E-Mails Suggest Paterno Role in Silence on Sandusky

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I didn't think there was anything to prevent someone from instituting a privately funded scholarship. I'm not talking under the table. Maybe I'm understanding the "scholarships" that are being removed incorrectly...I thought they meant ones that come straight from the NCAA.

Nothing comes "straight from the NCAA" - all athletic scholarships are paid for by the school/donors/gate receipts/etc.

You can make as many 'endowed' scholarships as you'd like, but you can only have 85 scholarship players on the roster - otherwise, every QB in the nation would magically have academic talents that earn a non-athletic scholarship.

Some sports that have "divided" scholarships (for example, baseball teams get around 12 scholarships for 25ish players) have slightly different rules, but on the whole, there's no real differentiation in how the student receives the aid.

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

I think I heard as well that the students on scholarship get to keep them, they just don't get to play football.

I'm pretty sure you're thinking of the ruling from the NCAA that any student who wished to leave the PSU football team could retain his scholarship as long as he met the other requirements set forth by rule - so if somebody said "hell with this" PSU can't cut them and take back the scholarship (as they usually can with any other one).

It's possible for football teams to 'cut' players from scholarship, but it's not the most common practice, for a variety of reasons that aren't all that important here - but the NCAA stepped in and is allowing players to voluntarily leave the roster, but retain their scholarship.

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

I thought they had to gradually cut...10 off next year, and then 20 the following. I guess you are right, though, they could just wait for guys to graduate and not replace them.

This is actually how it works out - the penalty is 20 total scholarships, starting with 10 initially, applied over the entire 4 years. They can't really just wait it out - it's 10 now, 10 more the next year, then they're capped at 65 the two after that.

Signing classes are limited 25 players up to the 85 total (which often happens due to attrition), so you can see why the penalty is considered very hard on a team - you're losing 40%+ of two classes, which might have a 50% "hit rate" anyway if you're lucky. That's without considering who would even want to sign the first few (non-bowl) years.

In many ways, PSU was crippled as a football program, but in a way that doesn't affect the rest of the Big10 or other teams PSU plays. Whether or not that's a good thing is very much up for debate.

[TSteven]

According to the Sports Illustrated article linked above, Penn State will not be able to give out more than 15 scholarships in any year during the four year span. The article noted that this is 10 fewer scholarships than the usual maximum allowed by the NCAA.

[TSteven]

This may help explain Penn State’s scholarship situation. From Philly.com

Loss of scholarships will cripple Penn State team

"As part of the sanctions agreed on by NCAA president Mark Emmert and Penn State president Rodney Erickson, Penn State football will be limited to 15 scholarships per class from the 2013-2014 academic year through 2016-2017, and cannot exceed 65 scholarship players from the 2014 season through the end of the 2017 season.

While the 2018 team will be eligible for 85 scholarships, Penn State won't have a team made up of four classes recruited at the usual 25 scholarships until 2020."

[agzg]

Originally Posted by TSteven

This may help explain Penn State’s scholarship situation. From Philly.com

Loss of scholarships will cripple Penn State team

"As part of the sanctions agreed on by NCAA president Mark Emmert and Penn State president Rodney Erickson, Penn State football will be limited to 15 scholarships per class from the 2013-2014 academic year through 2016-2017, and cannot exceed 65 scholarship players from the 2014 season through the end of the 2017 season.

While the 2018 team will be eligible for 85 scholarships, Penn State won't have a team made up of four classes recruited at the usual 25 scholarships until 2020."

Thank you - I was confused as to where the 15 instead of 25, 85 instead of 65 was coming in.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by agzg

Thank you - I was confused as to where the 15 instead of 25, 85 instead of 65 was coming in.

Essentially, it's a relic of the fact that students will have 5 years to complete 4 years of eligibility, so the reduction takes place both yearly and overall.