As promised a few days ago, here is an updated look at Alabamaās scholarship numbers situation. If youāre new to this game, all of the pertinent details that you need are enclosed inside.
The basic information that you need to know if you are new to this:
- Every football team in Division 1 Bowl Sub-Division is allowed to have 85 student-athletes on scholarship.
- No group of incoming football scholarship student-athletes can exceed 25 players.
- Alabamaās 2008 signing class consisted of 27 players, meaning the Tide had to get that number down to 25.
- At the close of the 2008 season, it appeared as though Alabama would have 73 scholarship players returning for competition in 2008.
- Kerry Murphy and Jermaine Preyear are both new to the Tide team, but they both enrolled in January. Because Alabama had two spots open from the 2008 siging class, these two guys will count there, and not impact the 2009 incoming limit.
- Adding those two guys to the mix put the Tide at 75 players on scholarship prior to adding any players from the 2009 signing class.
- With only 25 allowed in the new class, add 75 and 25 and you get 100 ā 15 too many for the 85 limit.
The easiest thing to start with is the incoming class of freshman, and how that 27 is going to squeeze itās way into the limit of 25. Hereās how that stands now:
- James Carpenter and Chance Warmack also enrolled in January, but with Murphy and Preyear filling the remaining two spots from 2008, they do have to count towards 2009ās limit of 25.
- Signee Quinton Dial, a defensive tackle from Clay-Chalkville High School, has announced that he will not qualify. He plans to enroll at East Mississippi Community College, take a redshirt year, and graduate in three semesters. If he pulls that trick, he will be eligible to report to Alabama in time for spring training in 2011, and would have three years of eligibility. Nikita Stover took this exact course of action a few years back.
- Signee Anthony Orr, a defensive lineman from Harvest, AL, has announced that he will be deferring his enrollment until January.
- This past week signees Eddie Lacy and Darrington Sentimore each made the grades that the need in order to enroll at Alabama. They each have to clear the NCAA Clearinghouse, which can sometimes be a bigger obstacle than it seems. For now weāll assume that they will be cleared, and weāll count them towards the total numbers.
With Orr and Dial deferring, Alabama has room to bring in all of the 25 guys that they signed:
Jonathan Atchison, Kenny Bell, Chris Bonds, Michael Bowman, James Carpenter, D.J. Fluker, Nico Johnson, Kendall Kelly, Dre Kirkpatrick, Eddie Lacy, Mike Marrow, A.J. McCarron, Darius McKeller, William Ming, Brandon Moore, Kevin Norwood, Tana Patrick, Trent Richardson, Darrington Sentimore, Petey Smith, Anthony Steen, Ed Stinson, Chance Warmack, Kellen Williams, Rod Woodson
As I said above, with a full class of 25 coming in, Bama would be at 100 scholarships ā 15 too many. Where does that stand today?
- Linebacker Prince Hall transferred to Eastern Washington, though if you listen to rumors, he was not welcome back.
- Kicker Corey Smith transferred to West Virginia.
- Linebacker Jennings Hester has gone onto a medical hardship scholarship because of nagging hamstring injuries.
- Center Evan Cardwell and linebacker Charlie Kirschman have both decided to move on with their lives, having earned their degree from Alabama.
- Wide Receiver Chris Jackson has transferred to Georgia Tech.
- Defensive lineman/Linebacker Brandon Fanney has transferred to North Alabama, though like Hall, rumor has it that he was not welcome back.
- Defensive back Alonzo Lawrence has asked for his release, and is expected to transfer to either Southern Miss or Ole Miss.
- Defensive back Phelon Jones has transferred to Alabama from LSU, though he is not certain to be on scholarship until 2010 when he will be eligible to play. If there is room under the 85 limit, heāll have a scholarship. If not, he wonāt.
So thatās eight players that have departed, leaving Alabama at 92 players ā still seven too many.
How do we get to that number of 92?
Seniors (19) ā Eryk Anders, Javier Arenas, Terrence Cody, Drew Davis, Brandon Deaderick, P.J. Fitzgerald, Baron Huber, Marquis Johnson, Mike Johnson, Tyrone King, Mike McCoy, Colin Peek, Cory Reamer, Chris Rogers, Ali Sharrief, Leigh Tiffin, Roy Upchurch, Lorenzo Washington, Justin Woodall
Juniors (14) ā Earl Alexander, Luther Davis, Preston Dial, Terry Grant, Charlie Higgenbotham, Kareem Jackson, Rolando McClain, Greg McElroy, Brian Motley, Taylor Pharr, David Ross, Travis Sikes, Milton Talbert, Chavis Williams.
Sophomores (23) ā Mark Barron, John Michael Boswell, Josh Chapman, Marcel Dareus, Nick Gentry, Brandon Gibson, Demetrius Goode, Robby Green, Jeramie Griffin, Darius Hanks, Jerrell Harris, Dontāa Hightower, Mark Ingram, Julio Jones, Chris Jordan, Marquis Maze, Alfred McCullough, B.J. Scott, Brad Smelley, Chris Underwood, Courtney Upshaw, William Vlachos, Alex Watkins
Returning Freshman (11) ā Undra Billingsley, Glenn Harbin, Star Jackson, Barrett Jones, Robert Lester, Tyler Love, Ivan Matchett, Kerry Murphy, Jermaine Preyear, Damion Square, Michael Williams
Add in the 25 newcomers with the 67 returning players, and you get 92. Aināt math fun?!
With fall camp set to open on August 5, that doesnāt leave a whole heck of a lot of time those numbers to work themselves out. So how will it happen?
- Signees Kendall Kelly and Kellen Williams could defer enrollment in order to allow more time for the recuperation of off season surgeries.
- Leigh Tiffin, P.J. Fitzgerald, and Tyrone King were all previous walk-ons who were given scholarships prior to last season. All scholarships are granted on a year by year basis, and all three of these men could go back to being walk-ons.
- There have been rumors in recent days that running back Ivan Matchett might end up going the medical hardship route. His injury has not been made public, but the folks at AL.com have sources that tell them that itās bad enough to possibly end his career.
- Those same sources for AL.com have indicated that linebacker Charlie Higgenbotham and running back Jermaine Preyear might be exploring their transfer opportunities.
That is eight possible scholarships opening, and there are still other players who could either transfer or go on medical hardship. These are just the rumors that have been the most prevalent over the course of the last week or so.
When something happens that affects this situation, weāll certainly let you know. Until then, the number currently stands at 92 ā which means that seven more scholarships have to be accounted for by the coaching staff.
