MGB: Mason Fine, H.S. coach say plans for his arrival at UNT yet to be finalized

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

1 minute ago, UNT90 said:

I did not know that fact about the tribal native Americans. Interesting. 

I didn't either until FFR started calling him "chief," *rolls eyes*, but I looked it up and he is a registered member of the Cherokee Nation. 

[Quoner]

2 minutes ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

I didn't either until FFR started calling him "chief," *rolls eyes*, but I looked it up and he is a registered member of the Cherokee Nation. 

Stop being a dirty, wet blanket just because FFR noticed he was Indian first.

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

Just now, Quoner said:

Stop being a dirty, wet blanket just because FFR noticed he was Indian first.

He's much better at "guess that ethnicity" than I am. We play on Friday nights. 

[BillySee58]

6 minutes ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

Okay, so a blueshirt is a guarantee then? Basically it sounds like he's not paying for school regardless. For one, he has stellar grades. For another, he is a registered member of a Native American tribe, so tuition is covered already. 

Yes, a Blueshirt is a guarantee. They only technically start off as a walkon in fall camp, but are put on scholarship before they have to actually pay any tuition.

Here's an article I posted on here the first time I suggested this when we were getting close to the limit on the 2014 class.

The more intriguing and non-traditional option is blue-shirting. Here’s how I described it an earlier article: “Officially, a player arrives in the summer as a walk-on. Once football practice begins, he’s awarded a scholarship. The school is allowed to count the scholarship forward — against the 2015 class — but the player can play immediately. There’s a big catch: The student-athlete may not have been recruited, as defined by NCAA bylaws. That means no official visit to campus, no in-home visits from coaches, no signed National Letter of Intent or athletic aid.”

http://knoxblogs.com/evanseleven/2013/12/05/has-butch-jones-found-a-recruiting-loophole-vols-could-use-complex-stragegies-to-manage-brimming-class/

 

[Eagle-96]

8 minutes ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

Okay, so a blueshirt is a guarantee then? Basically it sounds like he's not paying for school regardless. For one, he has stellar grades. For another, he is a registered member of a Native American tribe, so tuition is covered already. 

That brings up a question. Does his Native American tuition aid count as "financial aid" in regards to being eligible for a Blueshirt?

From ESPN:

" There is one advantage of encouraging a kid to be a blueshirt as opposed to a grayshirt. Unlike grayshirts, who aren't allowed to practice or be around the program for the first semester out of high school, a blueshirt can practice and play immediately, as long as he pays his own way. The only catch is the prospect may not have been recruited, meaning he can't have taken a paid official visit to the school or signed any kind of financial-aid agreement. "

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

1 minute ago, BillySee58 said:

Yes, a Blueshirt is a guarantee. They only technically start off as a walkon in fall camp, but are put on scholarship before they have to actually pay any tuition.

Here's an article I posted on here the first time I suggested this when we were getting close to the limit on the 2014 class.

The more intriguing and non-traditional option is blue-shirting. Here’s how I described it an earlier article: “Officially, a player arrives in the summer as a walk-on. Once football practice begins, he’s awarded a scholarship. The school is allowed to count the scholarship forward — against the 2015 class — but the player can play immediately. There’s a big catch: The student-athlete may not have been recruited, as defined by NCAA bylaws. That means no official visit to campus, no in-home visits from coaches, no signed National Letter of Intent or athletic aid.”

http://knoxblogs.com/evanseleven/2013/12/05/has-butch-jones-found-a-recruiting-loophole-vols-could-use-complex-stragegies-to-manage-brimming-class/

 

I, too, am wondering why the blueshirt. It makes sense if we are going to fill this class up but that doesn't even look possible at this point. He would be a good candidate for it, because, like I said he is probably going to be getting plenty of aid and scholarship as it is because of his grades and Tribal affiliation, and deservedly so. 

[VideoEagle]

So is it possible the staff is working to figure out the details on how best to get this 4.0 GPA class valedictorian member of the Cherokee tribe into school and still have an athletic scholarship available for someone else? With those grades, is he also a National Merit Scholar? That's yet another way he could get a free ride to school. I honestly don't know how that all factors in with athletic scholarships. 

In any case, I can see the need to investigate before simply jumping in with a football scholarship. 

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

3 minutes ago, Eagle-96 said:

That brings up a question. Does his Native American tuition aid count as "financial aid" in regards to being eligible for a Blueshirt?

From ESPN:

" There is one advantage of encouraging a kid to be a blueshirt as opposed to a grayshirt. Unlike grayshirts, who aren't allowed to practice or be around the program for the first semester out of high school, a blueshirt can practice and play immediately, as long as he pays his own way. The only catch is the prospect may not have been recruited, meaning he can't have taken a paid official visit to the school or signed any kind of financial-aid agreement. "

That is interesting. Honestly, this situation doesn't come up very often. I'd be interested to know that as well, I'd think they would let them pay it with merit base scholarship and aid though, maybe this is referring to federal financial aid? 

[BillySee58]

4 minutes ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

That is interesting. Honestly, this situation doesn't come up very often. I'd be interested to know that as well, I'd think they would let them pay it with merit base scholarship and aid though, maybe this is referring to federal financial aid? 

Anytime a high school kid enrolls at mid-term they describe it as a financial-aid agreement, since they can't sign their LOI until February, yet are enrolling in January. I'm not sure what the differences are between that and a scholarship from an LOI, but I think that's what they're saying. I think they're just excluding any type of athletic scholarship.

[UNT90]

29 minutes ago, Quoner said:

Stop being a dirty, wet blanket just because FFR noticed he was Indian first.

Really need a better name than "Native American." I mean, if you were born here...

That's why I used Tribal Native American, but was instantly concerned if that was racially insensitive. 

Indian is just dumb, especially if you know how the name supposedly originated. 

I think Original Indiginous American Pre 1500s might be a proper name? 

 

[Quoner]

6 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

Really need a better name than "Native American." I mean, if you were born here...

That's why I used Tribal Native American, but was instantly concerned if that was racially insensitive. 

Indian is just dumb, especially if you know how the name supposedly originated. 

I think Original Indiginous American Pre 1500s might be a proper name? 

 

Friggin' PC police from you again....figures.

[jtm0097]

Better check your privilege bro

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2016 by jtm0097

[UNT90]

17 minutes ago, Quoner said:

Friggin' PC police from you again....figures.

You know me. Always the voice of moderation. 

[greenit]

4 hours ago, JesseMartin said:

Here's why it doesn't matter:

As long as he doesn't get pissed off and go elsewhere because of paying his way for a semester, this would enable him to get AT LEAST 4 years after Alec leaves, or possibly even redshirt in 2017 and go 4 years AFTER THAT (or reserve a redshirt for later, umm, just in case?), depending upon what options/surprises Littrell has/gets at QB.  More time to grow/develop/strengthen, and more time to become as awesome a college player as he was relative to the high school field.  This is just a way for the staff to finagle scholarship numbers by using loopholes in situations where they don't expect someone to need immediate playing time.

If he enrolls in at least 12 hours in the Fall, the 5 year clock starts ticking, regardless of whether or not he is on scholarship.  The difference with a grayshirt is that they don't enroll full time (12+) until January (i.e. after the season is over), which is how they get the extra season of eligibility.

[GrandGreen]

Sounds like good news to me.  Only reason I can think of to blue shirt is that NT needs that scholarship to use for another player.  With about 15 spots open that must mean that they are confident of signing a full class.  

[greenjoe]

I didn't know there was a minimum of 12 hours to start the 5 year clock.  I understood it to be the beginning of any college attendance.

 

GO MEAN GREEN

[UNT Five&Dime]

So is he a natural athlete or does he bring his lunch box to practice? Can't tell from these "decriptions".

[EagleMBA]

2 minutes ago, UNT Five&Dime said:

So is he a natural athlete or does he bring his lunch box to practice? Can't tell from these "decriptions".

Check out his video and you will see that he appears to be very athletic. This is a good kid. Welcome him to UNT, make him feel comfortable, and let him develop into a starter next year (2017).

[BillySee58]

28 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

I didn't know there was a minimum of 12 hours to start the 5 year clock.  I understood it to be the beginning of any college attendance.

 

GO MEAN GREEN

Yes, it's 12 hours. But if you're under 12 hours you also can't participate in athletics.

[FirefightnRick]

3 hours ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

I didn't either until FFR started calling him "chief," *rolls eyes*, but I looked it up and he is a registered member of the Cherokee Nation. 

So...do you like that as a nickname for him, don't like it,..or like it and are just jealous I thought of it first?  

 

 

Rick

[Eagle-96]

1 hour ago, FirefightnRick said:

So...do you like that as a nickname for him, don't like it,..or like it and are just jealous I thought of it first?  

 

 

Rick

Wow. I'm gonna go ahead and distance from this one as far away as I can.

[greenit]

36 minutes ago, Eagle-96 said:

Wow. I'm gonna go ahead and distance from this one as far away as I can.

Civil Servants.  Can't take 'em anywhere.

[meangreenthirteen]

4 hours ago, UNT90 said:

Really need a better name than "Native American." I mean, if you were born here...

That's why I used Tribal Native American, but was instantly concerned if that was racially insensitive. 

Indian is just dumb, especially if you know how the name supposedly originated. 

I think Original Indiginous American Pre 1500s might be a proper name? 

 

"Indian" is widely considered a reclaimed term by Natives and is now acceptable in most situations.  

 

Here's a quick source and some thoughts on that :  http://www.umass.edu/legal/derrico/name.html

Edited January 27, 2016 by meangreenthirteen

[greenjoe]

OK.  Say I'm a really good athlete but at the time I'm starting college, I don't think I want to participate in athletics.  I only enroll for 6 hours my first 2 semesters.  At the end of my first 2 semesters I decide I want to walk on and I'm invited to do so.  Did my 5 year clock start 1 year ago or do I still have 5 to play 4 ? 

[Cerebus]

19 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

OK.  Say I'm a really good athlete but at the time I'm starting college, I don't think I want to participate in athletics.  I only enroll for 6 hours my first 2 semesters.  At the end of my first 2 semesters I decide I want to walk on and I'm invited to do so.  Did my 5 year clock start 1 year ago or do I still have 5 to play 4 ? 

Clock starts when you are enrolled fulltime (12 hours a semester) at an NCAA institution.  

Also: Some rules about playing in "organized competition" after your turn 21, but they were recently updated.  

Edited January 27, 2016 by Cerebus