Will the NCAA 5/8 rule be a factor

[ScreamingEaglesFan]

Looking at what JJ signed last year and the commitments' so far this year I calculate only 1 more scholarship available in this years class. The 5/8 rule (enacted last year) states you can only sign 5 players per season or a total of 8 in a two year period. So with last years class (Harris,Roniger,Thomas and Degrate) and this years so far (Calvin Watson 6'5" G, Mike Jones 6'7" F and Shawnson Johnson 6'9" PF the transfer from LSU ) gives us 7 with only one more to give.

So far schools have been filing appeals (unsuccessfully) for additional ships but the NCAA has not budged, (two examples Univ of Ariz immediately after enacted and recently the general at TT) That coupled with the loss of Jermaine Green, Chris Davis, Lee Green, and Rusty Chiles could really hurt our chances for improvement.

I hope JJ can find us a consistent big man it seems Justin Barnett is just not able to stay healthy (of course there's probably only 116 other D-I teams that would like the same thing!) The signees all have great numbers but i'm a little concerned about consistent rebounding and our presense in the middle.

Finally watching Boxell in his limited minutes i've been real impressed with his passing abilities 10 assists in 4 games (caught other players off guard a few times) I wonder how much this will affect Ronigers playing time when he comes back.

Your thoughts?

[IronMan4]

I can only hope it doesn't affect Roniger's playing time. I mean, Roniger is our scholarship recruit, and we need him to develop and grow. If Boxell would have had 36-40 assists in four games, that would be different, but he is still a walk-on and with scholarships being at a premium like you said we need to get the most out of ours.