http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=11002203

"Given the Pita fiasco and Talo's statement about Utah, and that Pita practiced with Utah on Saturday I thought I'd get some answers. Here is a breakdown of how Pita shakes out from an eligibility. Sorry for the length


In college athletics are qualifiers and non-qualifiers. Pita is a non-qualifying athlete. If an athlete qualifies -meaning he passed the NCAA clearinghouse - he is cleared to play at any school that accepts him, be it Stanford, UCLA, Utah, BYU, Alabama, etc. The school itself can choose to voluntarily impose tougher academic standards on incoming athletes, but almost no schools do this.

If a player fails to pass the NCAA clearinghouse, they are a "non-qualifier"; no exceptions. The most a school can do about a non-qualifier is appeal to the NCAA and hope the NCAA grants a waiver. If the NCAA grants a waiver, the player can be approved to either: 1. receive aid, but not practice or play; 2. receive aid and practice, but not play; 3. receive aid, practice, and play like a normal qualifier. All of this is entirely at the NCAA's discretion; not the school's.

If the NCAA grants a waiver, every FBS conference allows that player to participate to the full extent that the NCAA approved. If the NCAA denies a waiver request from a non-qualifier, the player is only left with two options:

#1 - Go to a JUCO or DII school and work to become eligible, i.e. "qualify", at which point they can be recruited again and
transfer to an FBS school to play out their remaining eligibility.

#2 - Go to a school that is in a conference that allows non-qualifiers, or a school that isn't in a conference

In scenario number two, the player has to go to a school that is both able and willing to take non-qualifiers. The PAC-12, Big 10, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big East, MWC, AAC, Notre Dame, and the service academies all prohibit non-qualifiers. The Sun Belt, MAC, CUSA, and post-independence BYU are the only places left that permit non-qualifiers. As an aside, a non-qualifier is often referred to as a "prop-48 player" because it is a player that failed to meet the minimum NCAA academic standards, which were originally outlined in NCAA proposition 48. The NCAA refers to theseplayers simply as non-qualifiers, but the prop-48 label is still popular among fans and writers.

If a school admits a non-qualifier, per NCAA rules the player cannot practice or work out with the team in any capacity and cannot work with the coaches whatsoever for an entire year. The player has to be treated just like any regular student. This also means the player is not eligible to receive a scholarship for that year and hasto find a way to pay for school on his own, just like any other student. If the player manages to maintain athletic eligibility for the entire year, then the player is allowed to qualify, receive an athletic scholarship, and join the team like any other player, but they are limited to just three years of eligibility with the possibility of earning a fourth if certain conditions are met.

BYU's plan was for Pita was to forego the waiver, and have Pita go on his mission for two years, come back from his mission and enroll at BYU as a non-qualifier, pay his own way for a year and not have anything whatsoever to do with football in any capacity, and then join the team 3 years from now with just three years of eligibility. Pretty tough for a kid with 1 year of organized ball under his belt.

Given that Pita is practicing with the team, Utah feels that he will get the waiver (likely because of the uniqueness of his case and his GPA/ACT composite). This would allow him to receive a full scholarship at Utah right away so he doesn't have to pay his own way like he would have had to under BYU's plan. It would likely allow him to be a full participant in all practice and strength training programs asa full member of the team. It would allow 5years to play 4, just like any other high school recruit.

If the NCAA denies his waiver (unlikely given that he is practicing with the team), Pita would need to go to somewhere like Snow for two years. After two years, he'd play at a D-1 school with 3 to play 2 or 3 to play 3, depending on whether he used his redshirt or not.

I don't know why BYU didn't pursue the waiver, or felt like they couldn't get it, or would rather Pita went without football for 3 years whereas Utah took a different track. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out."