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For those of you more knowledgeable about NCAA rules, will we see schools simply ignore scholarship limits by having star players "walk on," funded entirely by NIL contracts?

Firstly remember that there is a limit above and beyond the 85 scholarships so you aren't going to stockpile 150 players or so like Bear Bryant. Just getting that out of the way.

Secondly, I'm all for this. It is tricky, but possible. In a way it already has a toe in the water, twice, when BYU OL walkons all got a NIL deal and at UTx all OL, scholarship and walkons, got a NIL deal. This is the biggest benefit other than using NIL for retention (not recruiting) of the NIL.

I believe that this is exactly how you get the best bang for your buck if you are going to use the NIL outside of its intended purposes. These guys will not be the Ewers or 5*'s. These will be your project OL, your undersized WRs, your late bloomers, your overweight DL, the converted RBs to LBs and such. This is your depth and unexpected starters 2 or 3 years down the road. Why is it your best bang for your buck? Because these guys don't transfer and their starting point is a walkon, and now just to get their tuition "paid" by other means is a gain for them.

Can you do it? Hell yeah. The rules are no different than if you were using the NIL for "other purposes" for the 5*. It's actually easier IMHO. You have stipulations like "fair market value" to worry about (that's the tricky part mentioned above). But with walkons the price tag is much lower thus easier to defend.

The NCAA is actually creating the circumstances where normally this would be a non-starter because normally the recruits that would walk on stand a very low chance of becoming starters. However, with the portal and the immediate eligibility there's plenty of project 3*'s now that won't get a scholarship because their spot will be used to get a guy from the portal. That's the dirty secret of what the NCAA has created with the portal- it has eroded (as opposed to ruined or destroyed) opportunities for mid-level HS recruits. The pendulum or logic says use NIL to get those guys on roster. Nothing changed for the studs. In a small percentage of cases it has changed drastically for projects such as Lloyd Cushenberry.