one naive ignorant question re: the coaches' promises
by kdh325 (2023-01-26 10:59:48)
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I have seen on other posts the reference that the student-athletes gets, or at least should get, free tuition til the graduate, or up to four seasons. Does "four seasons" mean seasons that the s/a participated? If the s/a redshirts, do they get a 5th year of free tuition since they have only participated in 4 seasons? If a player graduates in four years but has a year of eligibility remaining, is the final year also covered? Sorry, but my tiny mind can't see the forest for the trees.

it depends on the school
by jt  (2023-01-26 12:50:19)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I do not believe ND references 5 years, but I know that some do; the Mountain West Conference LOI paperwork that I've seen reference 5 years, but that could be because there is some difficulty in graduating in 4 years (or there was in the past) due to difficulty getting certain classes, etc.

This also does depend on sport; I'm referencing football here. I believe other sports are more "annually renewable" due to scholarship limits/restrictions/etc.
It also depends on the circumstances.
by Kayo  (2023-01-26 15:35:02)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

There is a difference between a coach asking a guy to preserve the fifth year of eligibility and a guy having a fifth year of eligibility because he wasn't good enough to play as a freshman.

I've seen the former situation several times with ND basketball including this season. Sophomore JR Konieczny agreed to sit out this year because there are several upperclassmen of similar size playing the same position he does. As far as I'm concerned, JR should get the fifth year unless there is some kind of a disciplinary issue (which I don't expect).

That's a little different from someone like Matt Zona, who hasn't been ready to contribute at a major conference program, being guaranteed a fifth year even though he has the eligibility remaining.

Side note... Konieczny is a very athletic wing. I suspect he would have been better than at least two if the upperclassmen who were theoretically going to limit his playing time this season.