Malik McDowell still hasn’t signed with Michigan State, even though he wants to go there and his father now consents to his school choice. His mother, however, won’t sign the MSU letter-of-intent for her 18-year old son.
If you think there’s an obvious solution to the kid’s problem, guess again.
According to the source, the elder McDowell has since changed his mind and now supports his son’s decision to attend Michigan State. He won’t sign a letter of intent, however, as he fears it could jeopardize his relationship with another child he has with Crowe.
Jesus, what a world.
Get The Picture 
He could threaten to sue them for college tuition if they don’t sign.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/3/nj-teen-sues-parents-college-tuition/
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Give him my number AHD. I’ll take his case. Wait–does that mean I’d have to do 1/3 of his spring and summer practice reps, plus 1/3 of his off season conditioning drills? Maybe I’ll pass on that case after all. 🙂
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I’m sure you’re right. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/04/student-sues-parents-college-tuition/6024457/
Although this:”New Jersey case law requires parents who are financially capable to support their children and pay for college if the children are “within the sphere of parental influence” and are dependent on them for support, he said.” Makes me a bit uncomfortable. My sons will be within my sphere of parental influence as long as they know me. Gee.
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Can there be any doubt that The Apocalypse is indeed upon us? Good Lord.
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If he is 18, why can’t he sign the contract for himself?
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It’s my understanding you have to be 21 to sign on your own.
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But there is nothing to prevent him from never signing, and simply enrolling as a scholarship athlete later in the summer or this fall if I’m not mistaken. LOIs aren’t necessary in this process, just something the schools prefer for their benefit.
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Well, maybe except for MSU signing policy.
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I guess I haven’t followed this close enough to know if they had different rules. But as best I understood, a LOI just obligates the kid to that school and puts them within the NCAA transfer rules if they wanted to go elsewhere. We’ve had kids enroll without signing LOIs before, as Kwame Geathers immediately comes to mind having done so. They just commit, sign grant in aid forms, and are good to go. The LOI is not necessary unless Michigan St or the Big 10 want to make things more difficult than they have to be.
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He can join the military or buy a car though. So there is that.
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Well he can rely upon the NCAA to resolve this speedily and in his best interests….
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This is one occasion when if the NCAA didn’t want to get involved, I couldn’t blame it.
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But aren’t they already involved? I mean, isn’t it their rule to require parental signature?
An 18 year old is prohibited from having legal representation AND is not able to make independent decisions. That’s about the most NCAA thing ever.
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If I’m not mistaken, the NLI isn’t under the NCAA’s jurisdiction. It’s a school/conference deal.
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So a conference could modify the agreement to allow for an independent signing decision, but would be prohibited from allowing the student-athlete to receive representation because that would run afoul of NCAA rules. Got it. That is even dumber!
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What’s the SEC rule? If the kid’s that good UGA should offer him and he can sign with the Dawgs. We’ve got one or two spots left, don’t we?
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one or two spots?
Hell, spring break is next week, I’d say we’ll have more than that come April 1st.
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Since Mike Adams is no longer UGA President, maybe the university won’t drug test the entire football team the first day back. One can only hope.
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P.S. I would like to have Mike Adams alcohol tested every time he gets out of a car when he was driving. I’m thinking he’s pretty likely to fail that more than once a year.
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http://www.nationalletter.org/aboutTheNli/index.html
The NCAA manages the daily operations of the NLI program while the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) provides governance oversight of the program.
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“Is an athletics scholarship the same thing as a National Letter of Intent (NLI)?
The NLI seeks to limit recruiting pressure by providing a prospective student-athlete an opportunity to make a binding commitment to a school. An athletics scholarship sets forth the amount of financial aid the student-athlete will receive during an academic year. The NLI must be accompanied by an athletics scholarship to be valid.”
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A National Letter of Intent is not a requirement to get an athletic scholarship. That paperwork is covered by a Financial Aid Agreement. They just can’t put him on scholarship until the Fall semester starts. That means he would miss summer workouts and fall camp, but he could take the scholarship and redshirt without his parents signatures.
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Why couldn’t the Financial Aid Agreement include summer semester for workouts, etc?
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I’m not sure. I just know that the FAA is what obligates the school to fund his scholarship for the year while the NLI binds the kid to the school with no benefit to himself. The article in the link states that he could not accept a scholarship until after the first day of class of the fall semester.
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http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/on-the-trail/post/_/id/46760/recruits-can-sign-early-financial-aid-deals
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