LSU hit with sanctions

Feb 26, 2015, 9:41 PM

Could be Germans..

http://theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/11707183-123/records-lsu-slapped-with-recruiting

The LSU Tigers were on the wrong end of recruiting sanctions from the SEC on Thursday. According to a report from The Advocate, Les Miles and the Tigers will be banned from signing early enrollee recruits to financial aid agreements (FAAs) for two years after violating the guidelines set forth by the NCAA regarding FAA’s. In addition, LSU will also lose 21 of 210 “evaluation days,” which basically means 21 days to recruit prospects off campus, this year.

Under the FAA rules, once a player signs an agreement with a school, the coaching staff is then allowed unlimited contact with the recruit. However, if that recruit does not enroll with that school, the school can then be pinched for unlimited contact, which is exactly what happened with LSU.

The recruit signed a financial aid agreement with LSU intending to enroll early in January, but he decided not to enroll at the school. That makes at least some of LSU’s unlimited contact with the prospect illegal.

…

The NCAA modified the financial aid agreement (FAA) in April. It continued to allowed schools “relaxed recruiting rules” for prospects who signed an financial aid agreement, but it also warned schools that they could be penalized for recruiting violations if that prospect did not eventually enroll in that school.

The recruit was not specifically named in the original report, although Matt Womack, an Alabama signee, was one prospect who signed an FAA with LSU before deciding to go elsewhere. That being said, his father specifically stated that the Tigers were not contacting him unlimitedly.

It’s a sticky situation. On one end, FAA’s provide a coaching staff with a leg up for recruiting player. On the other side, you never know what a high school prospect is going to do. They could change their mind last minute, like this recruit for LSU, and decide to go elsewhere.

LSU will still be able to accept early enrollees for the next two years; they just can’t sign recruits to FAA’s, thus giving them a disadvantage against schools who can.

Add in the fact that LSU is losing 10% of it’s evaluation days, and it’s a compounding factor that could really hamper the Tigers’ recruiting abilities.