FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Patriot_Pride]

If the 5A Player of the Year in Alabama is 5th string...the Majors must have some depth!

Negative, we just had 11 quarterbacks in fall camp after losing an All-American. He is 5th out of that crew behind Graves, Murphy, Joplin and Nolan. Murphy and Joplin just threw their first career passes at Huntingdon after Graves got injured, so we have eight QBs with no collegiate experience at all and two more with a combined 14 passes and two interceptions.

[Fripp52]

Blackstock lot will open at 9 AM for Monon.

[RooBro]

Fun homecoming marred by AC shooting themselves in the foot over and over.  They were clearly the better team and they simply gave it away.


I hope Gage now understands why you don't ever run a pointless play at the end of a half though he has been coaching long enough that he should have known better.  KNEE THE BALL!

geez. 

I agree they shot themselves in the foot, but I liked the call at the end of the half. BSC had'nt really stopped us all day and we had the ball at the 43 with 51 seconds to go. The play call was a hand-off not a pass,double reverse, or some other risky call. It was aggressive but there is nothing wrong with that.

I feel bad for our boys ,who for the 3rd time this season lose a "tough one". It was a wonderful fall day with great entertaining football, but poor special teams and bad ball handling ruin an otherwise perfect homecoming. I have faith they can right the ship and finish strong,keep your heads up and GO ROO'S!

[Tex]

If the 5A Player of the Year in Alabama is 5th string...the Majors must have some depth!

Negative, we just had 11 quarterbacks in fall camp after losing an All-American. He is 5th out of that crew behind Graves, Murphy, Joplin and Nolan. Murphy and Joplin just threw their first career passes at Huntingdon after Graves got injured, so we have eight QBs with no collegiate experience at all and two more with a combined 14 passes and two interceptions.

5A player of the year from any states rarely end up in D3.  This kid must be an interesting story. 

[Tacttm1]

I recall (and can't find) reading a story that said he always wanted to play for Coach Dubos.  Events happened, he was courted by Ole Miss and others but decided to do what he had always wanted....learn under Dubos.

All:  feel free to edit or correct this story....

With due respect to the current depth chart leaders, I wish real life was a video game and I could put a QB in for a series or two just to see how they perform under pressure.   At least it is nice to have one eye looking at next year.

While on the 'respect' topic.....I give the current Millsaps squad plenty of it and appreciate the challenges they have had and how there current records and stats are very respectable, especially in context, so when we analyze strenghts or point out weaknesses, there is no disrespect intended....only opinions, observations, wishes and 'fan-coaching' talk.   

[frank_ezelle]

Knowing that Ralph or Ron will eventually get around to finding these links on Millsaps freshman quarterback Tyler Caldwell, I'll save them the time:

http://www.cullmantimes.com/localsports/local_story_199003521.html


http://hsalabama.scout.com/2/819565.html

He certainly sounds like a strong candidate to start for Millsaps in the future.  How soon that future will come is the big question mark.

Here's the post made back in August about Tyler Caldwell--I haven't check to see if the links are still active.

I've seen Tyler play in a couple of JV games.  He does have a strong arm and based on what he did in high school, I'm sure the coaches are excited about his potential.  I suspect the Millsaps coaches wanted to get through the year without playing any of the freshmen QB's unless it was obvious that one should have been the starter or the clear backup QB.  Take the case of Konner Joplin who has played.  He was played out of necessity in the Huntingdon game, and played a little against Rhodes.  That's a little bit of experience but it is also a year of college eligibility (spelling?).

I remember that Brent Buffa came to Millsaps with only one year left on his college baseball career because he had played in one game as a freshman.  My nephew played some mop up seconds at Davidson College as a freshman basketball player, less than a couple of minutes which meant he only had 3 years left when he transferred to Millsaps.  Sure he graduated after those 3 years, but then he went through the MBA program at Millsaps so he was at the school a 4th year.  He had to help coach instead of play because of those insignificant minutes at Davidson.

There are so many factors regarding who plays when.  Maybe Konner is the best of the freshmen at this point.  Maybe they wanted to play Konner because his freshman brother Kegan is already contributing at the receiver position.  Maybe it comes down to who is majoring in business and therefore is most likely to be at Millsaps for a 5th year because of the MBA program.  Ultimately, I believe there are several of these freshmen who could start at Millsaps in the future and it will come down to which one of them will work the hardest to become physically and mentally prepared for the role.  There are too many talented guys waiting in the wings for anyone to get the starter role without working their tail off.

[D3_DPUFan]

I know it doesn't have anything to do with the SCAC...but that is a great pic on the front of the site (St. John's player diving for the pylon)...

[Patriot_Pride]

I recall (and can't find) reading a story that said he always wanted to play for Coach Dubos.  Events happened, he was courted by Ole Miss and others but decided to do what he had always wanted....learn under Dubos.

All:  feel free to edit or correct this story....

It's Mike DuBose, not Dubos... only thing I saw.

[Tacttm1]

thanks...got a friend named Dubos and when I get to typing never know what comes out...!!


That insight on the freshaman QBs and saving eligibility made sense; I hadn't even thought about that in this case for some reason.

[Ron Boerger]

You're not allowed to redshirt ("save eligibility") in Division III except for medical/hardship reasons any more.  

[frank_ezelle]

You're not allowed to redshirt ("save eligibility") in Division III except for medical/hardship reasons any more.  

Ron, I trust your knowledge on this more than mine so could you educate me (and probably others).

If you are practicing with a sports team in D3 but do not play, does that still count as one of your 4 years?  If not, then what about if you practice and only play on a JV team. 

Also, if you are a sophomore like Millsaps receiver Jason O'Rear who played basketball his freshman year and now is playing football for the first time this year, does that mean he could still get in 4 years of football if it is in the 5 year time stretch?

And finally, lets say a guy plays one sport for 4 years, is he then eligible to play a 5th year of D3 athletics if he wants to switch over to another sport?

Thanks in advance for the info.  (Opps, one more question.  If a guy played tennis at Millsaps for one season in 1970-71, his sophomore year, and only spent 4 years in school, does that person have any eligibility left for a comeback attempt?)

[Ron Boerger]

Frank, I love your questions because they force me to actually investigate things that I've heard over the years.

Pat or someone with more knowledge can weigh in, but my belief is that you have four seasons in a particular sport and JV or simply practicing with a team counts as athletic participation.   If not then the ban on redshirting would be pointless.  

That said there is also a "ten semester rule" and I know that I have seen athletes use up eligibility in one sport (say soccer) and play a final semester in another (e.g. football).   Someone with more knowledge can explain what this means.   This would seem to apply towards your example with Mr. O'Rear. 

I found this NCAA powerpoint presentation that summarizes some of the issues.   It specifically says that practice at any level counts:

14.2.4.1 Minimum Amount of Participation Effective Date: Aug 01, 2007
A season of intercollegiate participation shall be counted when a student-athlete participates (practices or competes) during or after the first contest in the traditional segment following the student-athlete's initial participation of that academic year at that institution or when the student-athlete engages in intercollegiate competition during the nontraditional segment.  This provision is applicable to intercollegiate athletics participation (practice or competition) conducted by a Division III collegiate institution at the varsity, junior varsity or freshman team level.

Re the guy that played one year, I think that as long as he met the other requirements (maybe he's enrolled full-time in a masters' program now) that he would have eligibility left in Division III.  The ten semester rule might limit him to one year, not sure.  Athletic eligibility in D3 presumes the student athlete is making significant progress towards a degree.

[DPU3619]

That's correct, Ron.  Some of you who make the trip over to the basketball board with us in the winter will recall DePauw women's basketball player Liz Bondi.  She played tennis for 4 years, started playing basketball as a junior in 03-04, but ended up with 3 years of eligibility and played as a senior in 04-05 and then again in 05-06.  I believe that fell under the ten semester rule.

[Pat Coleman]

If you are practicing with a sports team in D3 but do not play, does that still count as one of your 4 years?  If not, then what about if you practice and only play on a JV team. 

This is exactly what redshirting is, and that is indeed prohibited. Same if you play only JV.

In the O'Rear situation you mention, he could finish four years of football that way.

[frank_ezelle]

Thanks to all for the information.  Let me ask two more questions:

1)  Based on the date of the rule quoted in Ron's post, is this something that went into effect starting in the 2007-08 school year?

2)  Does a player still have 5 years to play 4 years of a particular sport?  In this case lets say a student plays baseball his freshman year, doesn't go out for the team his sophomore year, and then takes up playing again as a junior.  Instead of for medical reasons, maybe the player simply sat out a year because of disinterest, a family situation, to focus on academics, etc.  When that players comes back for his junior year, does he still have 3 years of eligibility if he meets all of the qualifications of working towards his degree and all?