Coach Merc - Thanks for the link but if I'm reading it correctly (gotta love the NCAA lingo) then Academic $$$ does NOT count against athletic money:
15.5.3.2.1 Exception—Academic Honor Awards. Academic honor awards that are part of an
institution’s normal arrangements for academic scholarships, based solely on the recipient’s
high-school record and awarded independently of athletics interests and in amounts consistent
with the pattern of all such awards made by the institution, are exempt from an institution’s
equivalency computation, provided the recipient was ranked in the upper 10 percent of the high-school graduating class or achieved a core-course grade-point average of at least 3.500 (based on a maximum of 4.000) or a minimum ACT sum score of 105 or a minimum SAT score of 1200. (Adopted: 1/12/99 effective 8/1/99)
15.5.3.2.1.1 Additional Requirements. The following additional requirements shall be
met: (Adopted: 1/12/99 effective 8/1/99)
(a) The awards may include additional, nonacademic criteria (e.g., interviews, essays, need
analysis), provided the additional criteria are not based on athletics ability, participation
or interests, and the awards are consistent with the pattern of all such awards provided to
all students;
(b) No quota of awards shall be designated for student-athletes;
(c) Athletics participation shall not be required prior to or subsequent to collegiate enrollment;
(d) No athletics department staff member shall be involved in designating the recipients of
such awards;
(e) Any additional criteria shall not include athletics ability, participation or interests; and
(f) There must be on file in the office of the director of athletics certification by the financial aid director or the chair of the financial aid committee that such awards are part of the institution’s normal arrangements for academic scholarships, awarded independently of athletics ability, participation and interests and in amounts consistent with the pattern of all such awards made by the institution.