re: big changes coming to football recruiting

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He was given a no penalty transfer bc of a “hardship” that was completely fabricated.

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FIFY

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IMO Justin Fields and how the NCAA handled that situation is the biggest reason the flood gates opened. He was given a no penalty transfer bc of a “hardship” that was somewhat arbitrary.

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Maybe. Instead of opening the floodgates I see it as planting a seed that opened eyes to another angle.

However, see here: NCAA Handout for DIV I Transfer ProcessI'd like to point the board to page 2 of that handout and the mitigations for immediate eligibility. Those are in place regardless of the permanent 1-time waiver being tabled and were pre-covid (e.g. Fields).

"Mental Health" is one of those mitigations. Not "Mental Illness". Two different things. And that's why the "mental health" of Arik Gilbert was out there as one of the reasons why he was transferring. So he could apply for that mitigation, which supersedes the conference block, if approved in review by the NCAA.

Those mitigations, IF the NCAA starts approving them in the review process, are what will open the floodgates. So not Fields but Gilbert will be the one that opens the floodgates IF it goes that way.

Many here ragged on Orgeron for the "body hurts" comments. It was actually pretty smart; AND, it wasn't throwing Gilbert under the bus like many claim. By making that statement, publicly, it MAY preempt any of those mitigation claims and cause Gilbert to have to sit. Now, Orgeron probably wanted to cause him to miss out on immediate eligibility so he would come back to the team (because he is indeed an incredible talent, physically). But IF he didn't, another team would at least struggle to field him on the '21 season just because LSU can point the NCAA to that "body hurts" statement as a reason why his claims of mental health are false and cause him to not get immediate eligibility.

"Mental Health" is very subjective. All it depends on is statements from the player, and maybe immediate family. So it will be the mechanism through which the flood will come.

ETA: forgot to mention this- On page 2 of that handout you will also see that the review process for immediate eligibility is only initiated after the receiving school requests it. So a player who doesn't qualify for an immediate eligibility waiver (such as Covid rules which only apply to spring sports right now) has to follow that process. Which means you have to transfer first, be eligible (incl. academically) and THEN you can apply. Gilbert will have to take his chances and transfer and be enrolled (with enough hours now, and in the future) to even apply for the waiver.