The Branden Warner saga

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I checked with my sources and was told UCLA is still waiting to see transcripts for Compton College defensive tackle Branden Warner, who is due to enroll in a month but still must provide transcripts so he can be admitted.
I was also told other schools continue to recruit Warner.

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  • lavsmousse

    Just wake me up when the saga of Branden Warner is over.

  • BRUIN NC

    Guys – let’s move on. The kid is obviously not coming. For weeks, he has been saying things were settled. How hard is it to pay for some books and send a transcript. I want him there as bad as anyone, but there comes a time when the light goes on.

  • Anonymous

    Very strange about all this.

  • John

    And this is UCLA material? I know we need depth, but come on. Junior college tution fees are settled at enrollment, and the fee for a transcript is around $25. Something else is obviously going on. Maybe I’m wrong, and the kid can’t find a way to take care of his transcript fee, which makes me wonder how he will handle the academic pressures of UCLA and playing D1 football.

  • Sunset Bruin

    The D-line will be a glaring weakness when Price leaves.

  • BruinGuy

    We need to give this guy Tim Floyd’s cell number.

  • Tustin Dave

    Maybe that crack-head that signs his name Sam Gilbert can do us a favor and help the kid out. They do it all the time at other schools. Why not here too?

  • BruinFaithful

    C’mon Tustin, we’re Bruins, that’s not how we roll. I agree it seems odd that this has dragged on so long. I was inclined to take his word for it initially, since I don’t know him. However, this is getting ridiculous, is becoming a pattern, and wreaks of something bad. At best, this is an indication of a lack of discipline, preparedness, and money management. He was obviously on scholarship, so his schooling and living expenses were paid for. Wouldn’t this indicate that he spent that money on something else? He knew there were fees he was going to have to pay. Did he just F them off? This might be the reason he was at a JC in the first place.

  • pr

    You guys forget that he was an out of state student from Georgia and has to pay higher fees in addition to the regular tuition. Here is the breakdown for compton college: Published Tuition and Fees: Instate $ 728 Out of state $ 4,900

  • GoTroyGo

    I agree with BruinFaithful. Totally. He ‘da man!

  • Anon

    JC guys aren’t on scholarship, so, no he didn’t go spend a bunch of money on baubles and trinkets. But something is off here. Other JC guys manage to get their transcrips sent. It sounds that he could have even been enrolled all this time without the paying whatever it is they claim he owes. So I suspect the problem is what is in the transcripts. On the other hand, I can’t imagine that we would have even offered the ride unless we’d seen an unofficial copy of his transcripts through the first semester of this year, so maybe it really is a money issue.

  • BruinFaithful

    Anon:

    That is not true. Some JC’s offer varying levels of Scholarships, depending on the conference they belong to. For example, the NJCAA, allows members to offer up to 85 full rides and the recruiting can get competitive.

    http://www.active.com/football/Articles/Crunching_the_Numbers__Football_Scholarships_24402.htm

    Scout even has a special recruiting segment for JC’s. The CCCAA, of which Compton CC is a member, is a little different in that grants, aid, and scholarships cannot be solely based on athletic achievement but they can be need based and/ or from special purpose grants. Bottom line, Branden Warner did not come all the way from Georgia to play at Compton CC for nothing. He could have gone to a local JC and gotten a full ride. I’m sure they put a nice aid package together for him. Section 2.11.4, Part D (Scholarships/Grants) of Bylaw 2 details this. Part D number 2 even says “Student Athletes who have completed their athletic eligibility at the community college may receive an award/grant to help finance their continued education. These awards/grants are to be granted at the completion of the term of final participation.” I believe that would be NOW. Why couldn’t he apply for this grant and use it to pay what he owes? Hmmmmmm. The truth is not difficult to find if you look for it.

    http://www.coasports.org/working/pdf/d-bylaw%202.pdf

  • Anon

    If so, I stand corrected, and am disgusted that my tax dollars are going to support scholarships to out of state JC football players while programs are being cut. Those programs can’t be self sufficient, like a D-1 program, so that’s just our money down the drain.

  • Anon

    P.S. Sorry for all the typos in my first message. I hope the typo police don’t kick my a$$.

  • Anon

    I think we’re agreeing, but just to clarify. I’m not saying there should be no JC programs, even thought they aren’t self sufficient. I just don’t see the merit to paying a lot of scholarship money for out of state academic nonqualifiers to come hone their skills on our dime in football programs that don’t support other programs (unlike, say, our FB program). And it only adds insult to injury that that the vast majority of these players that ultimatley play D-1 ball probably do it outside the state of California. I’m actually surprised that there is money for this. I’m sure that, in the bigger picture, it doesn’t amount to much, but it (the scholarships, not the program) would seem like the first thing to cut in a time of fiscal crisis.

  • GoTroyGo

    It’s a little hypociritical to bash tax payer money going to out of state students that play JC sports. First of all, most of those players will never play for Cal, UCLA, Fresno St., etc.-all CA tax supported schools. It is because they are not good enough, in most cases, to make it in those high profile programs.

    Secondly, there’s no “noise” about an out of state player, that can play in one of those programs, getting a tax payer supported scholarship. Can’t have it both ways.

  • Anon

    “Secondly, there’s no “noise” about an out of state player, that can play in one of those programs, getting a tax payer supported scholarship. Can’t have it both ways.”

    Cal and UCLA are self supporting athletic departments, and if bringing in out of state players helps in that regard or otherwise works for them, then fine, since they aren’t really using my tax money. I can’t speak for Fresno, etc., but I suspect those schools also have to have self supporting (or substantially so) athletic departments. There is a reason why Long Beach State no longer fields a football team. I just don’t get why JUCOs are so flush with cash to pay for out of state players (assuming they actually do). I’m just not interested in paying for that.

    In looking at the link posted above, I see that many states require a large percentage of JUCO scholarships be reserved for in state players. If California has requirements that are substantially similar to the most stringent requirements of other states, then I’m less bothered by this. But something tells me that we don’t. Also, we seem to have a much more extensive JC system in this state than do many others, so it’s a bigger issue I would think. Just a guess.

    I also think JUCO football scholarships are just stupid in the abstract, but whatever.

  • GoTroyGo

    You are wrong. EVERY student at ucla is getting a subsidy. Just because the athletic department is paying the freight, it doesn’t make any difference. In other words, the AD doesn’t have to raise (or earn) as much money as a private university because the COST of the education has ALREADY been subsidized by YOU (and me), aka taxpayers.

    My numbers are not exact, but it’s like this:

    Estimated total cost of a university education: $90,000
    Say a private university charges $45,000. The difference between the $90k and $45k are grants (both Federal and Corporate for research). The difference between the $45k and the tuition at a state university (say ucla charges $15k), or $30k, comes from the State.

    I do agree with the rest of your post.

  • Anon

    Out of state tuition is pretty hefty at UCLA, at least for the first year until a student can establish permanent residence. I suspect that amount is imputed to the AD cost, at least for the year, and probably longer if the athlete doesn’t go to the trouble of establishing permanent California residence (and why would he or she bother?). It’s actually an interesting question as to what happens in practice.

    Are the numbers you put up for four years? If so, even the in-state fees for UCLA are much higher than that now.

    Anyway, I was beating a dead horse 2 or 3 posts ago. Enough of this topic.

  • lavsmousse

    That dead horse you’re beating better not be Dohnster.

  • GoTroyGo

    Annual. Whatever. I’ve been in discussion with the President of both state and private institutions. So whatever you want to think is ok with me.

  • Anon

    Ok, I was really beating a horse that was never alive. I appears that my first instinct was correct, and BruinFaithful got me all riled up for nothing. I just found a couple of links that said that California Community Colleges do not offer athletic scholarships of any sort. So that link he supplied was only for other states.

    Sheesh.

  • GoTroyGo

    No problem. I think it’s kind of funny that JCs would have scholarships for sports anyway. I’d rather have the money go to under privileged kids that want to go to college that can’t afford a state or private university. Unless those athletes are good students.