Bear Down Wildcats

Chicat wrote:Looks like we almost lost Jalen Harris to Notre Dame, but he just tweeted...

A recent visitor to our Informed Athlete website asked me about the term “blue shirt athlete.” He had been told by his recruiting coach that he would be a “blue shirt,” and he wondered if he would lose a year of eligibility because of it.
It was the first time I’ve had a question about it, and is a term that I hadn’t heard myself until recently. So, with that in mind, I’ll explain what all these different colors of shirts mean (in athletic terms, of course!!) and how they are, or should be, applied.

Red shirt athlete – This is an old term that many of you have heard of, but is sometimes misunderstood. When a college athlete is redshirted, that simply means that they have not used one of their four seasons of college eligibility.
With few exceptions, if a college athlete plays in even just a minute of one game or match against another team, or only gets a couple of tackles or at bats or a couple of innings pitched for their team during a season, they have used one full season of eligibility.
I regularly get questions from athletes or parents who wonder if they can still redshirt because they’ve only played in a limited number of games or minutes, or only competed in their event a couple of times that season. In most cases, they are confusing this with a medical hardship waiver.

A medical hardship waiver can be sought by a college athlete (their school must do this on their behalf) when they have become injured or ill to the extent that they can’t compete any more during that season. There are rules in place that vary between NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA, but the basic principle is the same to obtain the waiver. The school must submit medical documentation to support the request for the waiver and demonstrate that the athlete wasn’t healthy enough to complete the season.

Gray shirt athlete– This term is used to designate a high school athlete who is delaying their initial enrollment in a college. The athlete, usually an NCAA Division I football athlete (which is where the term began), doesn’t enroll in college in the Fall immediately after high school graduation, but will delay enrollment until the Spring semester.
The primary reason has historically been because a university doesn’t want to consider the football athlete to be an “initial counter” until the following academic year because they’re already at their initial counter limit. NCAA Division I has a limit of 25 “initial counters” for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams, and 30 for Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams, during each academic year.
Another reason (often for sports other than football) can be because the athlete wants to delay the start of their “five-year clock.”

Green shirt athlete– This term is new, but refers to a strategy that has been in place in college football for at least ten years now. The term is used for Fall sport athletes (again, primarily in football, but increasingly for soccer, volleyball, etc.) who graduate from high school a semester early. The reason is to enroll in college and participate in spring practice in their sport so that they can learn the plays, train with their team, and bond with their teammates before their initial Fall season.

Blue shirt athlete– The practice of “over-signing” in the sport of NCAA Division I football has been around for a long time. However, until recently, colleges often worked through those over-signings by convincing a high school athlete to start out at a junior college and then transfer later on, or to delay their enrollment for a semester (“gray shirt”).
The “blue shirt” approach is basically the same as a “gray shirt” with one very significant difference. Whereas a gray shirt athlete is delaying their enrollment at the university until the Spring semester, a “blue shirt” will enroll in the Fall, and attend as a walk-on athlete without a scholarship for at least the first semester.
This will allow them to participate in practices, and perhaps even play in games as a true freshman, and then get a scholarship later on. As a walk-on during at least the first semester, they will postpone counting as an “initial counter” until the following academic year. In addition, if they come in as a non-recruited walk-on, this may present some advantages as well if they will be receiving non-athletic scholarships such as academic scholarships, or legacy scholarships.

catinfl wrote:

Chicat wrote:

He's a legacy and he is blueshirting. Dude has wheels according to his hudl he runs a 4.37 and his film backs it up. Not a bad pickup and a local kid.

http://www.hudl.com/profile/3935786/dj-hinton" target="_blank

Chicat wrote:

chiefzona wrote:

gronk4heisman wrote:I would say this is the least hyped signing day I can recall as an Arizona football fan. Tells you all you need to know about the trajectory of the program, especially when all season long the coach was hyping this class up.

Didn't Byrne even hype the class at one point? Out the door......

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you saying Byrne would have turned down Alabama if the recruiting class was better?

3goggles wrote:Any way we get Greg Johnson to recommit???

UAEebs86 wrote:

3goggles wrote:Any way we get Greg Johnson to recommit???

Not unless Donte comes back too according to Scheer. Committed to coach not the school.

3goggles wrote:

UAEebs86 wrote:

3goggles wrote:Any way we get Greg Johnson to recommit???

Not unless Donte comes back too according to Scheer. Committed to coach not the school.

I know it's not going to happen but we can pray for a miracle can't we?

gronk4heisman wrote:I would say this is the least hyped signing day I can recall as an Arizona football fan. Tells you all you need to know about the trajectory of the program, especially when all season long the coach was hyping this class up.

azcat49 wrote:Wow on Shear. That's have been a last minute offer
We lost at least 5 players to those bitches

chiefzona wrote:Schear flip is more funny than anything. He completely bedazzled and courted Arizona....big hole to fill on the board.

azcat49 wrote:Brightwell? Who is that? Fu*k Oregon

azcat49 wrote:Brightwell? Who is that? Fu*k Oregon

gronk4heisman wrote:One OL, Two WR's, and just a walk on (in stature) QB in this class. Yet we are adding 6 DB's and 6 LB's after adding 6 and 3 respectively last year. Not sure I get the numbers, I guess some of the LBs could play DE, but still.

whatisee wrote:

chiefzona wrote:Schear flip is more funny than anything. He completely bedazzled and courted Arizona....big hole to fill on the board.

There are a number of other players who we lost who have a bigger impact than this guy. He wasn't coming in and starting right away, so he's really a non issue other than the drama

UALoco wrote:Voices in my head:
I am sitting here looking at the season ticket renewal information for next year. Two months ago, I would have signed on the dotted line and handed my cash over. I pounded the table about being a good fan. Today, I am shaking my head thinking whether it is worth the money, time, and heartache. I will definitely hit a few games and tailgate my ass off...but will I continue to dive in head first? DW is gone. GB is gone. 6 and counting highly touted fball recruits are gone. I am no longer part of the F.A.N. Alliance.

I have bball season tix now. It is so much easier to support bball now that they are kicking ass again. Signing the #1 recruit in the nation. We are back among the basketball "ELITE." Am I a fair weather fan? Have I gone to the Arizona dark side? Football is my true love but tracking AZ football has taken many years off my life and made me a bitter sports fan. Seeing AZ lose to Oregon at the P12 Championship game, Boise in the Fiesta Bowl, Stanford in Santa Clara and UCLA in Pasadena, and oh so many losses at home last year. I need some positivity in my life, the ASU win was good but Arizona Bball is delivering the goods for me. I even have the trip all planned hit Vegas for the P12 tourney. Re-up'd Dish network to keep catching games on P12 network. I am not a bad person, am I?

azgreg wrote:

azcat49 wrote:What's the deal with Schooler?.

azcat49 wrote:What's the deal with Schooler?.