Things just got a little tougher . . .

[DoubleDomer]

The Patriot League announced today that its Council of Presidents has approved athletic scholarships for football, beginning in Fall 2013: http://bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/02/14/patriot-league-offer-football-scholarships/3qU9NgoKlVaLWWNXjNsf0N/story.html.

Thoughts on how this will affect recruiting at the most selective D3s--NESCAC and its top-20 brethren nationally?

[Pat Coleman]

Well, who are the players who are going to Patriot League schools now? Where will those scholarships go to, players who would have considered Patriot League schools anyway or people who would also be getting scholarships to other FCS programs?

[frank uible]

The primary and major hit for upgrading the quality of the Patriot League's player personnel ought to be taken by the Ivy League. Other hits will be smeared thinly around, being in the vast majority of cases indirect and consequently barely or not at all felt by the NESCAC schools and their like, which infrequently attract Patriot League quality players.

[DoubleDomer]

I tend to disagree.  In my experience, the AI factor makes Ivy League recruiting its own undertaking.  I'm sure that there are those who fall out of the Ivies and into the Patriot League, but I tend to think they're few. I suppose that may change, particularly where low band players are concerned; the lure of a scholarship and an aggressive recruiting effort from one of the better Patriot League schools may be enough to turn the tables.  On the other hand, I doubt that there are too many 220 AIs who are spending much time looking at the Patriot League.  Those are the guys who populate the contest between the Ivies and the NESCACs.

In truth, there are currently a good many mid-band slottable players who choose between the Patriot League (especially Georgetown, Colgate, and Bucknell) and highly selective D3s each year.  It's been one thing for those players to look at the Patriot League (or the Pioneer League) and say: "I'm going to make an FCS-sized commitment to practice, training, and (especially in the Pioneer League) travel . . . for what?"  This will be a different exercise with the scholarship slots.  I tend to think that you'll see the most selective D3s (NESCAC, DePauw, Centre, maybe Sewanee, Carleton, Grinnell, Pomona, Claremont McKenna, and perhaps some of the UAA schools) losing maybe 1 top player apiece every year, or every other year. That's unlikely to make a difference in the NESCAC, where they only play each other. In those schools that aren't so insulated, however, losing those players is likely to make a difference.

[HSCTiger74]

I think something else to bear in mind is that (according to the Boston Globe article in the original post) each school will only be able to offer the equivalent of 15 athletic scholarships in football. When you spread that out over an entire team it probably won't amount to a large sum for any one player, which I suspect might play into their decisions as well. As has been pointed out in other forums, the potential amount of financial aid available from a non-scholarship school could possibly exceed what the athlete would receive from a partial scholarship elsewhere. All the schools in question are obviously excellent, but if you were offered 20-25K, or more, in non-athletic aid at an Ivy or NESCAC or UAA school vs 6500 or 7000 at a Patriot League school, what would your decision be?

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

I think something else to bear in mind is that (according to the Boston Globe article in the original post) each school will only be able to offer the equivalent of 15 athletic scholarships in football. When you spread that out over an entire team it probably won't amount to a large sum for any one player, which I suspect might play into their decisions as well. As has been pointed out in other forums, the potential amount of financial aid available from a non-scholarship school could possibly exceed what the athlete would receive from a partial scholarship elsewhere. All the schools in question are obviously excellent, but if you were offered 20-25K, or more, in non-athletic aid at an Ivy or NESCAC or UAA school vs 6500 or 7000 at a Patriot League school, what would your decision be?

I think it said 15 per year.  Which in four years will end up being 60 per school at any given time.

From the Article:

Each school will be permitted to award no more than the equivalent of 15 athletic financial aid awards each year to incoming football student-athletes, including transfer student-athletes. The total amount of all countable financial aid awarded to all football student-athletes may not exceed 60 equivalencies in any year.

[HSCTiger74]

I think something else to bear in mind is that (according to the Boston Globe article in the original post) each school will only be able to offer the equivalent of 15 athletic scholarships in football. When you spread that out over an entire team it probably won't amount to a large sum for any one player, which I suspect might play into their decisions as well. As has been pointed out in other forums, the potential amount of financial aid available from a non-scholarship school could possibly exceed what the athlete would receive from a partial scholarship elsewhere. All the schools in question are obviously excellent, but if you were offered 20-25K, or more, in non-athletic aid at an Ivy or NESCAC or UAA school vs 6500 or 7000 at a Patriot League school, what would your decision be?

I think it said 15 per year.  Which in four years will end up being 60 per school at any given time.

From the Article:

Each school will be permitted to award no more than the equivalent of 15 athletic financial aid awards each year to incoming football student-athletes, including transfer student-athletes. The total amount of all countable financial aid awarded to all football student-athletes may not exceed 60 equivalencies in any year.

Oops ... reading comprehension for $200 Alex.