re: Hypothetically, can a student athlete take a year off college then return to eligibility?

quote:

---

Yes.

Pretty sure it's based on years in the program (sport), not years in school.

That's the reason you see former baseball players coming in to play QB for a few years.

---

If that baseball player never enrolled in college, he can quit baseball and got to college to play football. But like in the case of Booty, he had actually enrolled prior to deciding on playing pro baseball. His 5 years to play 4 clock started the day he enrolled. So that's why he only had 1 year of eligibility when he finally quit baseball. Rule is, you have 5 years to play 4 once you enroll.