We address the scholarship situation for this coming year in this segment.
Q: TROJANS32 said:
Scott, I am really confused about our scholarship situation. I know we want to bring in as many as we have room for in January so that they will count against the 2010 class, but how many are we planning to bring in in February? Is it 15 or 20 or 25? Thank you very very much, Scott.
A: This confused me too so I have checked it to make sure. As of today, USC can sign as many as nine players in January at the mid-year period. These do not count under NCAA sanctions. USC can then sign 15 players in February. So if QB Cody Kessler graduates early from high school, he will enroll in January, which allows USC to sign another player in February.
Q: Sam Gilbert said:
Do you think Matt Grootegoed has considered coaching?
A: Hopefully. He’s an overachiever and those type of people make the best coaches and his work ethic would be perfect for coaching.
Jim Harbaugh — Overachiever
Karl Dorrell — Not
Rick Neuheisel — Not
Steve Sarkisian — Overachiever
Lane Kiffin — ???
I thought Wolf was wrong on this, but after going through the roster, I have to admit he’s right. Since the sanctions do not count against class of 2010, SC is allowed to award 25 scholarships. The early enrolles in January 2010 counted against the 2009 class and the early enrollees in 2011 would count aganst the 2010 class. SC had 3 early enrollees last year: Hall, Prater, and Baxter, so those three counted against the class of 09. Against the class of 10, SC signed 12 FRs: DiPoalo, Scroggins, Morgan, Grimble, Woods, Ambles, Uko, Thomas, Pullard, Bailey, Wright, and Brown. They didn’t bring in any JC transfers, but they did bring in Collier and they awarded three scholarships to Markowitz, Cumming, and Houston. That’s 16 scholarships counted against the class of 10, so SC could sign up to 9 early enrollees in ’11.