1. If the question is one of contact, then to answer the question, yes, a walk-on does need a release from the current Athletic Director before he is able to talk to another 4-yr school, regardless of who makes the initial contact. (See 13.1.1.3 on Page 90). Without this release, the player has to sit out a year first and only then can contact be made with other programs and a scholarship be given.

2. To answer the second question, though scholarships are only valid for one year, they are usually carried over for an athlete's entire eligibility, except in cases of non-performance or eligibility. Yes, guys like Mitch Juergens, Colby Pearson, and Grant Jones are probably more deserving of a scholarship than some of those who have their schooling paid for, but there are only 25 new scholarship spots available each year and most of those need to go to the new recruits to keep the program viable. Bronco has been one of the better coaches in the nation at rewarding the best 2-4 walk-ons each year with a scholarship. Not to mention the fact that a school doesn't want to have the reputation for cutting a bunch of scholarship players if they don't produce. That would not bode well for recruiting.

3. Another kind of release that has been talked about in this thread is a scholarship or NLI release. There isn't an official release from a scholarship. The release is just the permission to explore other options. There is a release signed by the student-athlete that releases the school from the obligation to provide financial aid once aid has been awarded for a specific term, but that's not really what we're talking about here. The important release is the one I mentioned above and that allows a player to contact and transfer to another institution and receive financial aid for the next immediate term.

4. As for Kamel Greene, that's a different question altogether. He was not recruited by BYU, so the release doesn't matter. The issue here is one of immediate eligibility. He doesn't have to sit out for the required one-year residency, because he meets an exemption (See 14.5.5.2.9 on Page 176) because he was a) not recruited by BYU, b) not on scholarship at WSU, and c) did not participate with the WSU program in countable activities for more than 14 consecutive days. If any of those conditions were not met, he would still have to sit out the year. The "release" that we're talking about here is from the NCAA to allow players who meet certain conditions to play immediately without sitting out a year.

I know this was long but I hope those who are interested will read it.