Dan Mullen Pulls Recruit's Scholarship Offer 16 Days Before His Graduation

RTR91 · Nov 21, 2014

Recruiting can be frustrating to follow with high school prospects often waffling on commitments and taking visits to other schools. But recently, Mississippi State showed us why committed prospects have to do what's in their own best interest during their recruitment process.

Chason Virgil is a 3-star (according to 247.com) dual threat QB out of West Mesquite High School who had offers from schools including Auburn and Clemson. He committed to Mississippi State in May with the intent to graduate early and join the Bulldogs in January of 2015. According to the Clarion-Ledger, Mullen pulled Virgil's scholarship 16 days (!!) before he was set to graduate and asked him to grey shirt for his first semester on campus. This means Virgil would be responsible for all college expenses during his first semester at MSU.

uafanataum · Nov 21, 2014

I hope that every recruit that was thinking about joining miss st reads this story. Bad decision on mullens part.

B1GTide · Nov 21, 2014

Should have completed the financial aid forms.

ALA2262 · Nov 21, 2014

uafanataum said:
I hope that every recruit that was thinking about joining miss st reads this story. Bad decision on mullens part.

His worst decision was not taking the 10% discount Cecil offered on Cam.

Special K · Nov 21, 2014

I'm not defending Mullen, but isn't the SBNation article a little misleading in one respect. When a prospect "grayshirts", I believe he has the option to simply delay enrollment, doesn't he? He doesn't HAVE to start at MSU in January, but can wait until he's actually on scholarship to enroll can't he? Or am I missing something?

B1GTide · Nov 21, 2014

Special K said:
I'm not defending Mullen, but isn't the SBNation article a little misleading in one respect. When a prospect "grayshirts", I believe he has the option to simply delay enrollment, doesn't he? He doesn't HAVE to start at MSU in January, but can wait until he's actually on scholarship to enroll can't he? Or am I missing something?

Yes, he can. Mullen does not appear to have pulled the scholarship - just the early enrollment. Of course, the player will not like that because it hurts his chances of playing as a freshman since he will not practice until summer.

Again, all an athlete has to do to lock in an offer is fill out the financial aid forms. I no longer have any sympathy for kids like this.

RTR91 · Nov 21, 2014

Special K said:
I'm not defending Mullen, but isn't the SBNation article a little misleading in one respect. When a prospect "grayshirts", I believe he has the option to simply delay enrollment, doesn't he? He doesn't HAVE to start at MSU in January, but can wait until he's actually on scholarship to enroll can't he? Or am I missing something?

If he greyshirts, he has to pay his own way until the following signing class. Most kids that greyshirt aren't early enrollees like this player. He isn't just paying out of state tuition for one semester. He would be paying it for the spring and next fall with the possibility of the summer.

B1GTide · Nov 21, 2014

RTR91 said:
If he greyshirts, he has to pay his own way until the following signing class. Most kids that greyshirt aren't early enrollees like this player. He isn't just paying out of state tuition for one semester. He would be paying it for the spring and next fall with the possibility of the summer.

The article does not say that - it only says that he was asked to grey shirt for the spring semester.

jthomas666 · Nov 21, 2014

Special K said:
I'm not defending Mullen, but isn't the SBNation article a little misleading in one respect. When a prospect "grayshirts", I believe he has the option to simply delay enrollment, doesn't he? He doesn't HAVE to start at MSU in January, but can wait until he's actually on scholarship to enroll can't he? Or am I missing something?

1. The kid probably worked his butt off to graduate early.
2. Given that Mullen pulled the scholarship offer once, sitting around and waiting for a scholarship is probably not a good option.
3. The timing really leaves the kid with few options. He's graduating, the odds of finding another school that will give a shot at early enrollment are slim.

RTR91 · Nov 21, 2014

B1GTide said:
The article does not say that - it only says that he was asked to grey shirt for the spring semester.

From the Clarion Ledger article:

Virgil, who will graduate in 16 days, told 247Sports.com on Thursday night that MSU wanted him to grayshirt, which would require him to wait until the second semester of his freshman year to enroll in classes.

Also, you've pointed out he could have signed the financial agreement papers. He could have, but MSU would have to send the papers to him. They very well could have not done so.

JustNeedMe81 · Nov 21, 2014

SO what will happen next?

B1GTide · Nov 21, 2014

RTR91 said:
From the Clarion Ledger article:

Also, you've pointed out he could have signed the financial agreement papers. He could have, but MSU would have to send the papers to him. They very well could have not done so.

The second semester of his freshman year, if he enrolled in January, would be the fall semester (or summer). He would only have to pay for one semester.

If he asked for the forms and they failed to send them to him, or they refused, he should have moved on. This is the only way that kids can protect themselves, and many have (Alabama's incoming QB signed his a month ago). There is no risk to the player because it does not lock him into that school, but it forces the school to hold that scholarship for the player. The school could not do this.

You have to take responsibility for your future. I have a 17 year old son and we are working through all of this now. Trusting a stranger with your future is just plain stupid.

B1GTide · Nov 21, 2014

JustNeedMe81 said:
SO what will happen next?

Depends on the kid. If he really wants to go to MSU, he should ask for the financial aid forms for the summer semester to lock in his scholarship then decide whether or not to enroll in January on his dime or take a semester off. If this has soured him on MSU, he should drop his commitment and focus on finding the right school for him knowing that he might have to take a semester off.

RTR91 · Nov 21, 2014

B1GTide said:
The second semester of his freshman year, if he enrolled in January, would be the fall semester (or summer). He would only have to pay for one semester.

If he asked for the forms and they failed to send them to him, or they refused, he should have moved on. This is the only way that kids can protect themselves, and many have (Alabama's incoming QB signed his a month ago). There is no risk to the player because it does not lock him into that school, but it forces the school to hold that scholarship for the player. The school could not do this.

You have to take responsibility for your future. I have a 17 year old son and we are working through all of this now. Trusting a stranger with your future is just plain stupid.

I guess I have a different take on it after hearing the media attack Nick Saban for asking a guy to greyshirt while he heals from injury.

crimsonaudio · Nov 21, 2014

No matter how you slice it, Mullen's reputation takes a hit on this.

DocCrimson · Nov 21, 2014

B1GTide said:
The article does not say that - it only says that he was asked to grey shirt for the spring semester.

The second semester of his freshman year, if he enrolled in January, would be the fall semester (or summer). He would only have to pay for one semester.

If he asked for the forms and they failed to send them to him, or they refused, he should have moved on. This is the only way that kids can protect themselves, and many have (Alabama's incoming QB signed his a month ago). There is no risk to the player because it does not lock him into that school, but it forces the school to hold that scholarship for the player. The school could not do this.

You have to take responsibility for your future. I have a 17 year old son and we are working through all of this now. Trusting a stranger with your future is just plain stupid.

That would make no sense because he would still count against the 25 for this year, and so MSU loses nothing by having him show up in January. The only way they have any kind of is if he "greyshirts" until next January so he counts against the 2016 cap.

For what it's worth, I doubt Mullen does this if he has intentions of leaving MSU after this year.

RTR91 · Nov 21, 2014

B1GTide said:
Depends on the kid. If he really wants to go to MSU, he should ask for the financial aid forms for the summer semester to lock in his scholarship then decide whether or not to enroll in January on his dime or take a semester off. If this has soured him on MSU, he should drop his commitment and focus on finding the right school for him knowing that he might have to take a semester off.

The financial aid forms only matter for early enrollees. That doesn't help him any in regards to the summer semester.

DocCrimson · Nov 21, 2014

Also, if the school refused to send him the financial aid forms, I would hope that would be some sort of recruiting violation.

B1GTide · Nov 21, 2014

RTR91 said:
I guess I have a different take on it after hearing the media attack Nick Saban for asking a guy to greyshirt while he heals from injury.

You can be asked to grey shirt for an entire season, and this is most often the case. This article reads differently - as though he has only been asked to grey shirt for the spring semester. I know that you know this because you actively follow recruiting, but for those that do not:

Early enrollments were started for a few reasons:
* To allow players an extra semester of practice with a team, since their spring semester of their 5th year comes after the football season in their 5th year has been played and is essentially wasted for football purposes.
* To allow coaches to sign more than 25 players in a given class, since the rule actuaspecifiesfies the signing window, which begins on national signing day. Sign before that date and your scholly doesn't automatically count against the 25 limit. Strange but true.
* To allow more flexibility in managing the 25 scholarship/year limit, since a scholly signed for the spring semester caappliedplied to the previous class or the upcoming class. Same point as above, but a different aspect.
* To allow more flexibility in managing the 85 scholarship limit, since players who graduate early and/or move on to the NFL after a season can free up their scholly for another player in the spring.

So it is entirely possible that they just don't have a backwards applicable scholarship to award him, so he has to wait until summer. They have a lot of seniors, but not many who will go to the NFL or graduate early.

B1GTide · Nov 21, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
No matter how you slice it, Mullen's reputation takes a hit on this.

Agreed - it is a slimy thing to do this late in the game.

Dan Mullen Pulls Recruit's Scholarship Offer 16 Days Before His Graduation

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