Oversigning Strikes In McElrathbey Cut

We've been down this road before with explosive results, but the only explosion in this case should be Tommy Bowden's eyebrows.

Unless you live under a rock or pass out as soon as something schmaltzy, airbrushed, and featuring Shelley Smith shows up on ESPN, you know who Ray Ray McElrathbey is. Ray Ray is the Clemson running back who is also the legal guardian of his younger brother Farmarr. He was a media cause celebre last year. Now, as Brian Grummel passed along this morning, he's been cut so that Clemson can cram another freshman into school.

EDSBS has some original reporting in which Clemson defends itself:

When the coaches met with Ray Ray, which they do with all players, it was made clear to him that if he decided to remain at Clemson his scholarship would be provided. That includes a commitment from our Athletic Director that we would give him a graduate assistant position (that would pay for a Masters degree) within the Clemson Athletic Department after he graduated.

But this is a bit of spin nigh Clintonian in its audacity:

the bit about "his scholarship" being honored is a bit of dodge. McElrathbey's scholarship is already promised through August, when McElrathbey graduates in three years. They're renewed year to year, and already promised. The real issue comes with the decision to shift McElrathbey from a four-year scholarship athlete complete with room and board and tuition paid to a grad assistant, a job requiring work in addition to any time he puts in on the field as a player. That is not fulfilling the term of a scholarship.

No, it's not. Somehow, McElrathbey has juggled football, Farmarr, and school such that he'll graduate in just over three years -- a time frame that no doubt accelerated rapidly as soon as James Davis announced he'd return for 2008 -- but he's been cut three years into his college career.

This is the glory of oversigning, and the reason the practice should be either abolished or severely curtailed.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-10-2008 @ 6:11PM

Clay said...

By all means Clemson should keep a player that is not producing on the field. Just like kids that are on academic scholarships should keep those scholarships if they don't make their grades.

3-10-2008 @ 9:03PM

steve johnson said...

Oprah should do a followup story on this.

3-12-2008 @ 9:48PM

Mike said...

How can Coach Bowden live with himself? Imagine the trouble that this kid has gone through for the past 3 years trying to raise his younger brother while playing football and keeping up with his studies. And he takes it all away for one of these pampered, if I may take one of Brian's lines, OMG shirtless recruits? Classless

3-10-2008 @ 9:47PM

Rob said...

Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Ray Ray gets a free undergraduate degree from Clemson. Ray Ray also gets the option of a free graduate degree from Clemson. Ray Ray also gets a foot in the door to the lucrative world of college coaching through the GA position. Ray Ray and Fahmar also have over 100K in a trust fund.

Where do I sign up?

3-11-2008 @ 2:55AM

Pete Holiday said...

Still clinging to that false premise that he was promised four years of scholarship, Brian?

He was promised a one year scholarship with the option of extending year-to-year beyond that, and he's gotten a hell of a lot more out of Clemson than he's given, so I'm not really sure how he's the "victim" here.

I also love how, in an effort to strengthen your position in a previous debate, you simply assume that this was done to free up his scholarship for someone else. Is there anything (besides your own desire for it to be true) supporting that assumption?

3-11-2008 @ 10:16AM

robert said...

Pete you stated it right. i couldn't have said it better myself. it's nice to see other readers call out this @ss of a reporter named brian cook.

3-11-2008 @ 1:37PM

Jonsi said...

Pete, I disagree with you. In effect, his scholarship was not renewed in order to free it up for someone else, who himself won't contribute for a couple years. When a coach comes into a home to recruit, he IS promising to fulfill an education, and he is making a four year commitment. If a coach were to say "this scholarship is year to year, if you get injured and then stuck behind some studs so you don't see the field, we may pull it, just so you know," then it would be ok.

If you go to practice, work moderately hard, rehab through any injuries, go to team meetings, pass your classes and go to class, then you are fulfilling what you promise when that coach recruits you.

If Ray Ray weren't going to graduate this summer, if he were 3 credits short, then his compensatory offer couldn't even exist. It is poor PR, it is shady. True, he was able to graduate, but he's essentially being told not to come back because he's graduating early, whereas Clemson probably has other guys who are graduating in four years, but get to come back for a 5th year of eligibility. It is a bit insulting and despite technical clauses, I am certain that when Bowden recruits, he is making a four year promise to those kids and their parents.

It is in bad taste and if I were an AD, or the President of a university, or a coach, I would discourage it. Offering a scholarship, you are promising to provide a degree, and you are promising to coach someone and give them the opportunity to be part of the team, the team, the team. It's not offered under the condition that you become a starter by your 3rd year or you may lose it.

By what metric do you measure "contribution"? YPC isn't the same thing as GPA in the classroom, and any one who has ever participated in collegiate athletics at the DI level knows that success is as much related to the coaches as the athlete, especially when things like illness, injury,and other challenges occur in the athletes life. For all we know, when he got hurt, he didn't receive proper coaching and rehab, essentially neglected, and if he were at another university, he would have become all conference. Contribution very much depends on the coaches, not the athlete, unless you are an All American talent. Most players become contributors because of the coaching and support they receive when they face hardship. For all we know, Bowden never provided that. As much as you can blame Ray Ray, it goes both ways.

3-11-2008 @ 4:12PM

Paul said...

Who is Brian Grummel and what is a celebre ?

3-11-2008 @ 4:13PM

StewzTigerz said...

So, you AOL guys have switched out or removed the first BS article on this subject. Now, let me get all of this straight, so you're saying that McElrathbey is getting a raw deal in your eyes? In what way? Last time I checked, he graduates in August from a fine university. His little brother has thousands and thousands of dollars in an NCAA approved trust fund thanks to the university. Many fine folks assist in child care for his brother, free of charge. He's got the option to stay two more years and pursue a graduate degree and be a graduate assistant on the university's dime. This is a player who, sadly, blew his knee out last year -and was in dire straights, academically, last year. With help and support, he recovered, academically, to make the university's honor roll. Now, he's at least fifth on the depth chart...having never played more than special teams to this date. How on earth is this guy getting a raw deal from the university? From my view, the entire university had done nothing but help the guy. Are all of you AOL so-called sports journalists Gamecock alumni??? Seriously!

3-11-2008 @ 4:37PM

Partial text of statement from Clemson Athletic Director:

When the coaches met with Ray Ray, it was made clear to him that if he decided to remain at Clemson, his scholarship would be provided. That includes a commitment from me that we would give him a graduate assistant position within the Clemson Athletic Department after he graduated. Tim Bourret sent out a statement to this effect on Sunday. Perhaps that didn't make the Charleston paper.

From a football standpoint, coaches met with Ray Ray and made it clear to him that he had four talented running backs ahead of him this fall. We have two of the top running backs in our program's history currently on the roster and two of the Top 10 running back signees in the nation are coming to Clemson this fall. If his future goals involves playing professional football, he needs to get on the field. If he is to get on the field, he needs to transfer to another program.

But, he has the option to stay here and have his schooling paid for through the next two years.

Terry Don Phillips

108 Jervey Athletic Center

3-11-2008 @ 8:55PM

dave said...

Pete, your other points may be valid, but let's try to fill in the blank to this sentence.

Clemson chose to pull McElrathbey's scholarship because __________.

If it were for academic/behavioral issues, the school would have taken his scholarship away sooner. After all, why take it away from an athlete after they start going to class?

More to the point, does Clemson not have PR people? They couldn't cut 1 of the 84 other guys on the team to avoid this ton of negative press?