Keith DeWitt released from USM

[notquiteBWing]

Seems ESPN has picked this up too -- From ESPN Insiders Rumors:

When word broke that Keith DeWitt would be heading to Southern Miss, there was an expectation the forward would fill the same role as Gary Flowers. However, assistant coach Greg Heiar -- who formerly was head coach at Chipola JC -- filled the open assistant position at Wichita State. Heiar, who Josh Pastner had tried to bring to Memphis, had been a main reason for USM's success recruiting top ranked junior college players.

Perhaps not surprisingly, DeWitt has asked to be released from his NLI (per Brad Winton of JucoRecruiting.com). It is not known whether DeWitt has been granted his release but it has been whispered that if he is released, he could quickly land at Wichita State.

Though it would appear WSU does not have any open scholarships, the Shockers will lose almost all their bigs next season (besides Garrett Stutz, who is more of an outside threat).

- Matt Giles


I thought we had one open scholarship -- am I wrong (again)?

Garrett Stutz is more of an outside threat? :roll:
This guy has never watched us play I'd assume

[WstateU]

No, you aren't wrong. We do have a scholarship. This is life in the internet world.

This guy is completely ill-informed, which would normally make me extremely pessimistic about the potential big news.

We do have a scholarship.

We lose 3 big men this year, not next.

Garrett is hardly "mainly an outside threat".


Stay thirsty my friends.....more to come.

Can't wait!

[WSUwatcher]

DeWitt

Good find about the second NLI, Hatter. Thanks for the information, which raises a couple of questions about DeWitt, namely: will he graduate from JC, in which case he could sign a second binding letter of intent to supersede the original one with Missouri; and, did he actually sign a letter with USM?

As for the ESPN guy, it's possible he may unaware of Richardson's transfer; it's also possible he may not realize the terms (i.e., walking on, in a manner similar to a football-style grayshirt) under which Ron Baker is becoming a Shocker.

[Kung Wu]

Rant: Only the NCAA can take an LOI and make it a binding contract. In business thats simply not done. Pathetic. Instead of calling it a Letter Of "Intent", please call it a contract.

A) For a Letter of Intent to be binding, it must be accompanied by a scholarship offer from the school, so semantics aside, there are obligations on both sides of the agreement.

Yes, the rant was about semantics. Just call it something else.

Both sides do have obligations, but the bulk of the risk is on the athlete.

B) There a good reasons to have the Letter of Intent be a standard form rather than a negotiable contract. The opportunity for schools to use the Letter of Intent to give additional benefits to certain students is dangerous. It's not that you couldn't organize the system differently, but there are benefits for oversight from having a standardized system.

The NLI is known to be non-negotiable. However, does that really prevent the parent/student from entering a secondary contract requiring the school to sign a release within a certain period if the coaching structure changes? I don't see how the NCAA can do that at all -- they wouldn't be a party in the second contract. I can see how they could try and bully the institution to not engage in contracts but that would scream of tortious interference.

It really is a bit ridiculous how stacked in favor of the institution the whole LOI process is.

[The Mad Hatter]

Rant: Only the NCAA can take an LOI and make it a binding contract. In business thats simply not done. Pathetic. Instead of calling it a Letter Of "Intent", please call it a contract.

A) For a Letter of Intent to be binding, it must be accompanied by a scholarship offer from the school, so semantics aside, there are obligations on both sides of the agreement.

Yes, the rant was about semantics. Just call it something else.

Both sides do have obligations, but the bulk of the risk is on the athlete.

B) There a good reasons to have the Letter of Intent be a standard form rather than a negotiable contract. The opportunity for schools to use the Letter of Intent to give additional benefits to certain students is dangerous. It's not that you couldn't organize the system differently, but there are benefits for oversight from having a standardized system.

The NLI is known to be non-negotiable. However, does that really prevent the parent/student from entering a secondary contract requiring the school to sign a release within a certain period if the coaching structure changes? I don't see how the NCAA can do that at all -- they wouldn't be a party in the second contract. I can see how they could try and bully the institution to not engage in contracts but that would scream of tortious interference.

It really is a bit ridiculous how stacked in favor of the institution the whole LOI process is.

A second contract would still violate NCAA regulations in the same way that a school buying a recruit a car would - it would qualify as an extra benefit. A legal contract that guarantees the athlete gets additional privileges in exchange for his athletic participation is well within the scope of the NCAA's regulatory rights.

Nonetheless, I do agree with you that there are problems with the balance between players and institutions with the LOI. While I understand putting barriers to transfer because of tampering concerns, those restrictions often put student-athletes in a bad situation. At the end of any season, a player can have his scholarship yanked, and on top of it have to sit out a year to transfer to another Division I school. I creates an awkward situation.

[Kung Wu]

Rant: Only the NCAA can take an LOI and make it a binding contract. In business thats simply not done. Pathetic. Instead of calling it a Letter Of "Intent", please call it a contract.

A) For a Letter of Intent to be binding, it must be accompanied by a scholarship offer from the school, so semantics aside, there are obligations on both sides of the agreement.

Yes, the rant was about semantics. Just call it something else.

Both sides do have obligations, but the bulk of the risk is on the athlete.

B) There a good reasons to have the Letter of Intent be a standard form rather than a negotiable contract. The opportunity for schools to use the Letter of Intent to give additional benefits to certain students is dangerous. It's not that you couldn't organize the system differently, but there are benefits for oversight from having a standardized system.

The NLI is known to be non-negotiable. However, does that really prevent the parent/student from entering a secondary contract requiring the school to sign a release within a certain period if the coaching structure changes? I don't see how the NCAA can do that at all -- they wouldn't be a party in the second contract. I can see how they could try and bully the institution to not engage in contracts but that would scream of tortious interference.

It really is a bit ridiculous how stacked in favor of the institution the whole LOI process is.

A second contract would still violate NCAA regulations in the same way that a school buying a recruit a car would - it would qualify as an extra benefit. A legal contract that guarantees the athlete gets additional privileges in exchange for his athletic participation is well within the scope of the NCAA's regulatory rights.

Interesting. I hate the NCAA.

Based on all of this how can you blame coaches for poaching recruits? Students are forced into a contract that they cannot get out of and yet the conditions (practically terms) are ripped out from under them afterwards. That has to make you feel terrible as a coach that convinced the student to sign.

Since it's not illegal I think it should be tolerated.

Again poaching active students (no longer recruits) should be strictly forbidden and realistically is.

[blackandgold]

Southern Miss has 30 days to either grant or deny his release. I hope they move this along, I would REALLY like to see him as a shocker.

[Kung Wu]

30 days from when? From when he requested it? Which was?

[blackandgold]

30 days from when he requested it. I'm not sure of the date of request. He also needed to send a copy of the request to the NLI offices. The NLI offices keep track of the 30 day period and make sure that the university makes a decision within that time period.

[pinstripers]

What is NLI?

[blackandgold]

National Letter of Intent

[blackandgold]

Here is a little video describing the process. http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/...efault+content

[blackandgold]

It also looks like other schools are well aware of his wanting to be released. http://www.volnation.com/forum/tenne...th-dewitt.html

[SpanglerFan316]

"I've heard that he will stick with Southern Miss but you never know what could happen."

http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=496057&pid=6495352#pid6495352

http://www.tweetdeck.com/twitter/JucoRecruiting/~nlstn

[Kung Wu]

Seriously funny.

USM fans: "Heard he's staying here."
WSU fans: "Hear he's looking to come here."
Tenn fans: "I hear our recruiters are gonna bring him here."

Chatter, chatter, chatter.