According to a Virginia Tech spokesperson, Virginia Tech running back Deshawn McClease has been granted a medical redshirt for this redshirt freshman season in 2016.
A former three-star recruit in the 2015 recruiting class, McClease spent his freshman season redshirting at Virginia Tech. In 2016, the 5-foot 9-inch, 197-pounder saw action in just one game before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
Great news. If he makes the jump this season that many are hoping for, it'll give us a nice veteran presence in the backfield for 2020.
[Mod Edit: Add excerpt.]
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You bastard you made the title clickbaity on purpose. My heart sank thinking he tore his ACL in practice.
Ha! I'll add in the year to make it less heart stopping.
Great. Here's to back to back to back 1000 yard seasons.
That is VERY good news, we will likely need him for the extra season. I would love the RB recruiting to pick up, but this should allow Fuente some options for redshirting a future borderline starting talent rather than burning a year of eligibility to play sparse snaps.
You son of a bitch, I thought this was about this season at first.
So McClease is a redshirt redshirt sophomore?
"100% Healthy Deshawn McClease Gains Extra Year of Eligibility via Medical Redshirt for Ancient 2016 Injury" would've helped my blood pressure.
You're in charge of headlines from now on.
Reading the headline
via GIPHY
And now to the man you caused said panic attack with witty title
via GIPHY
Unless they also document his 2015 redshirt as being for medical reasons, I'm not sure why this would matter. (And maybe that's what they're saying implicitly in this whole thing.)
You only get five years to play four. Six years are only granted when a player has lost two full seasons to an injury. and that typically isn't processed until a player has completed his five years, like Chung this past offseason.
He was hurt his Fr and R-Fr years
Right, but you can't apply for a sixth year until you've finished your first five years. So it's a little odd to list him as a redshirt sophomore right now, just assuming he'll get the sixth year approved by the NCAA.
It should be approved if all the medical documentation is there, but you never quite know with the NCAA.
Also, this phrasing doesn't quite make it sound like the injury was of the season-ending variety in 2015:
I have a text in to VT to get clarification, but I've yet to hear back.
Seems the question comes down to whether the physicians cleared him to return to competition prior to the UVA game. If he is cleared before the final game, then he supposedly does not qualify for a medical hardship waiver ("medical redshirt").
Though when I read through the relevant bylaw (http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D118.pdf, section 12.8.4), I didn't see anything that explicitly said you had to wait until otherwise exhausting your eligibility prior to applying for the waiver.
Seems the "medical hardship waiver" is a waiver for a 5th season of in-game competition, and that the sixth-year waiver is actually called the "five-year rule waiver", as explained in section 12.8.1.7 of the same document.
I found another document (http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/tam/genrel/auto_pdf/comp101-3-five-y...) apparently from A&M from years ago that seems to say that you don't necessarily need a hardship waiver for each of the 2 seasons lost to injury, you just need documentation stating that injury significantly limited the amount of the season that you physically could have participated. Not sure the numbers are still relevant, but the wording from section 12.8.1.7 leaves some room for interpretation. However, since he participated in the 2016 season opener prior to his season-ending injury, the "medical hardship waiver" is required to regain a season of competition before the "five-year rule waiver" even becomes an option.
I'm sure if VT is confirming this, they've run it by compliance that it's good to go or that they feel confident about it in the long run.
I've just never seen a school claim this for someone ahead of the petition process, which in every case I've seen, is not heard until after a player has finished five years. Even Chung said last December he had to wait until his last year to technically apply for it. And it wasn't approved until the March after his fifth year.
I still think it's possible that he has only been granted the "medical hardship waiver" at this time, and not the "five-year rule waiver". His bio on Hokiesports says that he was awarded a "medical redshirt" for the injury, and maybe this is what 247 Sports (or whoever their source was) was asking for clarification on.
Though, it also says "redshirt sophomore", which is usually reserved for a 3rd-year player with one prior year of playing experience, while by the book he is a 4th-year player this season, which would hint to the "five-year rule waiver" having been granted, but I suppose it's also possible that the staff assumes that the NCAA will grant the waiver at the appropriate time.
In any case, a clarification from a team representative would be very appreciated.
It wouldn't be the first time VT sports information put the cart before the horse.
Well jeez if that is the case the NCAA will probably reject his petition when the time comes, just out of spite and to remain inconsistent and unpredictable in their decision making.
I'll call Coach Beams. He owes me one.
You guys don't react well to good news.
/s
Just to update this. Here's why McClease is only a RS sophomore now:
Very nice! Thanks for the followup! After reading the rule myself, that is also my understanding of it. Being deprived of a chance to play your first season on campus by the institution's decision to redshirt you now counts the same as any other situation out of the player's control.
For those curious, the new rulebook is now available from the NCAA's website, and the relevant rule is still 12.8.1.7.1:
http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D119.pdf
I wonder how these changes to the NCAA rules will impact this grad-transfer type free agency that we are seeing become more and more popular.
If the colleges are no longer able to create a laundry list of reasons as to why X athlete can't transfer to Y college and redshirt rules are changing to allow the players to take part in 4 games before being assigned a redshirt and first year players that redshirt also do not have this season count against their total if they miss an additional season due to injury...
Add in the fact that with summer classes, a lot of these guys are finishing their bachelors a year early and becoming eligible for grad transfer, where they can move schools and play immediately. So to use McClease's exact situation, assuming he is taking a normal course load, he would probably finish sometime in the next calendar year and be able to take 2 years of eligibility onto the destination of his choice and play immediately.
If I am a student-athlete and unlikely to make the pro's, I am making sure I get all 6 of those years and that free tuition, I am getting a bachelors degree or two and moving to the best grad school available for my final 2-3 years.
If I am a student-athlete and I am looking for more playing time and to showcase my skills to the next level, transferring to another school with a more promising depth chart just got a whole lot easier and I might have an additional year of eligibility to take with me.
It seems like this is a big win for the student athletes. How do recruiting class sizes change when there are a bunch more 6th year players around the entire landscape of college football.
None of this matters when he breaks out this year and goes pro.