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Reply to "D1 Coach Pulling Our Son's NLI"

Of course this is very upsetting, but let's go through his options.

1) He can insist on attending the school.  They have to provide him with the scholarship unless he and the college mutually agree to dissolve the NLI.  In order to stay within the 11.7 equivalency requirement, the school may have to pull a scholarship from an existing team member, and that needs to be done before June 15.  If he attends the school without releasing the school from the NLI, they will have to include him on the 35 man squad list, but they do not have to allow him to even practice with the team.  

 

2) He could inquire about attending the school as a walk on, hoping that he will make the team, or even be awarded a scholarship the following year.  However, he needs to consider the possibility that the school have reassessed his potential value as a player since he signed, and the un-drafted juniors are actually a somewhat palatable excuse for wanting to pull the NLI.

 

In either 1) or 2), if he attends this school, and then decides to transfer to a D1, he will have to sit out a year.  There is a real possibility that he wouldn't be able to compete during the next two years- the first year because the school chooses to not play him, and the second by D1 transfer rule.

 

3) He can agree to dissolve the NLI, and attend college anywhere else.  Contrary to SDBB's fear, there is no transfer implication, and he would be eligible at any college.

 

This is a difficult situation.  Even if the un-drafted juniors actually are the issue, the reality is that the coaches chose other incoming and existing players in preference to your son.  Now that they have declared this choice, I think it is unlikely that your son can succeed at this school.  I suppose that you could explore possibility 2) with them, perhaps discovering that they really do want your son, but I'm not sure I would accept their word, and NCAA rules prevent them from promising anything in writing.

 

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