Post by BearClause on Oct 26, 2006 2:24:43 GMT -5
chance said:
gatorvball said:
Yeah, I'm not a xenophobe, I'm a foreigner myself. I'm all for foreign players coming to the states for an education, to play volleyball and have a chance at a better life. But a 22 year old sophomore is ridiculous. I think in theory a scholarship athlete can be as old as 29, and walk on's can be any age....
I know mississippi state has a senior who was born in 1981...
Walk-on or scholarship doesn't matter in D-I. Age doesn't really matter either except for the "21st birthday" rule. There are several things at play. The first is that the five year competition window (to use available eligibility) starts as soon as someone enrolls as a full-time student at any college. Could be JC, four year - anywhere in the world. The second is that any "organized" competition past the 21st birthday counts as one year of NCAA competition in that sport for every one year window of competition.
One oft-cited example is Chris Weinke. Signed with Florida State in baseball but opted to accept an offer from the MLB team that drafted him. Spent 6 years playing minor league baseball, which meant he was no longer considered an amateur in baseball. He enrolled in college for the first time at the age of 25 at Florida State and played football, where he received the 1999 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback. The key was that he never played organized football while he was a minor league baseball player, so he had all four years of eligibility when he entered Florida State. Couple that with the fact that he had never enrolled in college before, and he's pretty much in the same situation that an 18 year old college freshman football player has. He's got five years to complete four years of eligibility in football.