RB Michael Goodson is enrolled at Texas A&M The latest on Goodson By John Talman rivals http://rivals100.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=548789 Despite reports to the contrary, Rivals.com has learned that top running back recruit Michael Goodson has enrolled at Texas A&M. Goodson has been admitted to Texas A&M on a provisional basis. Rivals.com has also learned that Goodson still must clear two hurdles before he is allowed to suit up for the Aggies' football team this fall. The first hurdle? He has yet to be cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse. Second, Goodson has yet to graduate from Klein Collins High School. It's typical for many recruits to enroll in school before being cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse or while their applications are still being reviewed by the NCAA. Most schools allow players to work out with the team while awaiting the ruling. This "slower ruling" from the Clearinghouse is quasi-normal for recruits who have less-than-ideal high school grades or recruits who were awaiting grade results of their final semester of high school. The clearinghouse issue may be resolved within the month or it could drag into late August. The NCAA Clearinghouse gives no true timetable for such a ruling. However, the high school graduation issue remains more unclear. Sources say it could be resolved favorably for Goodson sometime this week or next, in which case he could remain at Texas A&M. Otherwise, he may have to take summer school classes to graduate and it's uncertain whether he would be allowed to remain at A&M in the interim and take both high school and college classes simultaneously. Goodson, a 6-foot, 205-pounder, is the nation's No. 4 rated running back prospect in the class of 2006 by Rivals.com. He was also ranked the No. 4 rated overall prospect in Texas. The Aggies return a potent offense next season with quarterback Stephen McGee and big back Jorvorskie Lane. Goodson's speed and slashing style are expected to complement McGee and Lane. He could become the big-play threat in the Aggies' running attack. Goodson committed to Texas A&M in late January after decommitting from Oklahoma State. He was also heavily recruited by Southern Cal and Miami. As a senior, Goodson rushed for 973 yards and eight touchdowns despite suffering a minor ankle injury. He was the area player of the year as a junior in 2004 after rushing for 1,061 yards and 13 touchdowns for Collins.
How can he be an A&M student, on scholarship, if he hasn't graduated HS? The NCAA Clearinghouse issue I understand. ND had a DL Andy Wisne in '97 that met ND's academic requirements (16 core courses while NCAA only requires 13 and he had a substantially higher test score than NCAA required)and had graduated HS. As of September he hadn't got Clearinghouse approval. ND pull him from practicing. IIRC, the issue was the Clearinghouse had requested clarification on the scope of one his core courses and the HS had sent it over the summer. The issue dragged into midseason. He ended up sitting out his freshman year.
How did it work for Wisne, since he wasn't eligible for the scholarship did his parents have to pay the money until he was cleared? Did the University then refund the money to them? That article only says he was admited(provisionally), it doesn't say who's paying the bills. Terry
Terry, I don't know the details about Wisne tuition/scholarship for the first month or two while he was in Clearinghouse Limbo. I do recall an article, probably SBT, that noted ND had spoken with the NCAA to insure compliance with regulations while approval was pending. ND did not allow Wisne to practice to prevent any violations or jeopardize his eligibility. The article noted that the Clearinghouse process is slow and nothing speeds it up. the Clearinghouse works on their schedule, not that of the student, university, or start of the football season. The article also mentioned that considering the thousands of student athletes that apply for clearance it was not unusal for several to be unresolved by the start of the season. Wisne's was supposed to be unusual in that it took to mid season. Keep in mind Wisne had graduated. He had a diploma. The issue was whether one 10th or 11th grade core course adequately covered the subject mattter from the title of the course. I don't recall the course name but instead of it being obvious like "Plane Geometry" say the title was something like, "10 Grade Math For Jocks". The Clearinghouse requested clarification and apparently didn't get it on a timely basis. As for who paid I'd assume the University carried him like they would a student that has an external (non ND) scholarship and "the check is in the mail". They'd extend a grace period for awhile before telling the student to "bring cash". I suspect that ND pulled him from practice so there could be no queston of impropriety or allegation of the athlete's tuiton being paid by a slush fund. Gordon's situation seems to be more fundamental. A high school student can take college summer classes but they don't do so as a regulated NCAA Scholarship Student Athlete. If Gordon has to take high school summer classes to obtain his HS diploma, he can't be on an NCAA scholarship taking college courses at the same time because he hasn't met the basic requirement to qualify for that scholarship. It would be an Extra Benefit. It would seem he has to get his diploma then await Clearinghouse Approval.
It seems to me that a lot is up in the air and I am guessing that the compliance people at A&M are well aware of the rules. I am also guessing that by allowing him to enroll and start taking courses that they are trying to take an optomistic position that his High School thing will get worked out soon and that he can continue. The way I read the article was that if it doesn't then he likely will have to drop out, and I'm also guessing that at this moment he is not on scholarship and that he's paying his own way or that his payment is on hold till it gets sorted out. Terry [/quote]
re: Andy Wisne Andy was one of our regular posters here in the old Prodigy days, when his older brother was playing for the Irish. The last I heard of him, his playing days were over, he'd lost 100 lbs and he had moved to Hollywood in hopes of becoming an actor... .................JO'Co
Goodson is not currently on scholarship. None of the 2006 guys can receive anything from the U until their report date in August... As with many schools, players are allowed to show up for unsupervised summer workouts, and classes... ON THEIR OWN NICKEL.
Are you sure? All across the NCAA kids are now enrolling for courses in the summer before the freshman year, I don't know the % of the recruits that enroll in summer school, but it's significant. They work out with the other players as well. While paying for a couple of summer courses at a state school like A&M or Texas probably isn't too taxing, it's bound to be expensive at ND. Terry
Scott in past years that was the procedure per NCAA regs - at A&M and other NCAA institutions. But as Terry indicates the NCAA rule was changed to allow incoming recruits to attend summer school classes prior to football camp. The argument for the rule change was that the kids were no longer in high school, would be in camp in August and many were doing the on campus workouts why not let allow them to take summer school classes to lighten their freshman academic load. Similar to the kids that earn a diploma in December and enroll in college in January. Goodson signed an LOI based upon expected completion of his HS requirements. But he never completed the basic requirements for admission - a diploma. Without a diploma, Goodson is still technically a high school student. Can a HS sophomore or junior workout on campus with players? I'll bet that would run afoul of the extra benefit rule. Otherwise football campers would be having unsupervised workouts with the players across the country.
As far as I know, the school still cannot pay for the kids coming in until August. I think it has to do with counting against the 85 cap. Anyway, this is all moot since Goodson has completed the core work he was lacking, and is in now. It should be official soon...