[Cider Jim]

And the other 2 are Dembley and Andoh.

Thank God it wasn't Theo, or Purple would have been on suicide watch.

Not a math guy, so are we breaking even, or do we have more scholarships to fill?

[olldflame]

Ok. With Lang's tweet, the final lynchpin in this process as far as returning players goes is Gielo.

One would think. I would love to have confirmation on Jurch and/or Karwowski, but all of these events would appear to make the opportunities to play immediately more attractive, plus McKay's offense should really appeal to big guys who shoot 3s. I feel pretty confident they are on board. Neither of them seem to tweet, so I guess we won't hear it from them.

[jinxy]

Im ok with all of these guys leaving. Andoh was a little more surprising but talbert could get his minutes. So is RMK doing spring cleaning with all these guys or some of them choosing this on there own. Im guessing he got rid of most if not all of them. I just hope we have a big out there if those euros arent coming.

[olldflame]

And the other 2 are Dembley and Andoh.

Thank God it wasn't Theo, or Purple would have been on suicide watch.

Not a math guy, so are we breaking even, or do we have more scholarships to fill?

We currently have one, pending word on Gielo. We have the Baxter kid who has committed, but I think his qualifying is a long shot at this point. I expect if Tomasz stays we will be done recruiting. If he transfers, I wouldn't be surprised if we look for his replacement on the same list of immediately eligible graduate transfers he is on.

[olldflame]

Im ok with all of these guys leaving. Andoh was a little more surprising but talbert could get his minutes. So is RMK doing spring cleaning with all these guys or some of them choosing this on there own. Im guessing he got rid of most if not all of them. I just hope we have a big out there if those euros arent coming.

I have a feeling Andoh chose to transfer. Another reason I am cautiously optimistic that one or both of the Euro bigs are coming is that we have focused recruiting efforts exclusively on guards. I would think we would have been pursuing one or more big guys if we knew they were both opting out.

[jinxy]

Agreed. If were relying on them they better make it here otherwise maxwell is the only true post
Player on the roster ha. Wow what a change

[R i]

Kemrite saw what Ritchie did with K.O. and said, I can do better than that.

Notice their arent quote marks around that.

[SuperJon]

You're not including the two Euros we signed though, are you?

Of course. Do you have any indication they aren't coming? Lang obviously doesn't. I'm really thinking if either had decided against coming to Liberty they would have long since asked for their release by now, and that would have been out there because they would be back in the recruiting pool. I expect them to be on campus for summer school.

I was asking if you're including them in the scholarships that we've given out or not.

[Purple Haize]

And the other 2 are Dembley and Andoh.

Thank God it wasn't Theo, or Purple would have been on suicide watch.

Not a math guy, so are we breaking even, or do we have more scholarships to fill?

You got that right. Total mancrush

Shows how smart RMK is!

[Chris Lang]

The two Euros didn't actually sign LOIs, and that's why it was worded in the original release that the two "planned to attend Liberty," and not "signed a letter of intent."

[BJWilliams]

With that being the case...would that technically mean we actually have 12 scholarships or what is the case there?

[olldflame]

The two Euros didn't actually sign LOIs, and that's why it was worded in the original release that the two "planned to attend Liberty," and not "signed a letter of intent."

And here is that release:

http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm ... 94&TeamID=

Not having a signed NLI means that McKay probably is not legally obligated to provide a scholarship if he didn't want the player(s). From the players side, it only means they would not need a release to accept a scholarship from another school, but releases are pretty much automatic anyway when there is a coaching change.

I still maintain that short of any actual information on their status, the most telling thing we have is the fact that we apparently have not been recruiting any bigs for 15 this Spring.

[olldflame]

With that being the case...would that technically mean we actually have 12 scholarships or what is the case there?

It may be that technically we only have 10, but as long as they still plan to come and the new staff wants them, it's just a technicality.

[PAFlame]

Is there a chance that McKay decides that signing the two Europeans is not worth the time? Now I'm not fretting over McKay wanting to disassociate from players under the previous staff, but is there a process they need to go through if they decide they won't give those players a scholarship?

[BJWilliams]

Im sure its possible, but as olldflame indicated, we have zero actual (public) information indicating that they are not coming OR that RMK has indicated he is not interested in them.

[Kiwon]

Regarding the four that are leaving, were their scholarships guaranteed even with a change in the coaching staff?

Under the rules, is it possible for a scholarship athlete to go to non-scholarship status through no choice of his/her own?

[olldflame]

Regarding the four that are leaving, were their scholarships guaranteed even with a change in the coaching staff?

Under the rules, is it possible for a scholarship athlete to go to non-scholarship status through no choice of his/her own?

Scholarships are renewed annually. They are only "guaranteed" for one year. Of the 4 who are leaving, my best guess would be 2 were coaches decisions and 2 were players decisions. For a player who had his scholarship taken away to continue playing as a non-scholarship athlete would be highly unusual. They generally would seek to transfer or stay at the same school and not participate.

[olldflame]

Is there a chance that McKay decides that signing the two Europeans is not worth the time? Now I'm not fretting over McKay wanting to disassociate from players under the previous staff, but is there a process they need to go through if they decide they won't give those players a scholarship?

With no NLIs, it appears these were strictly verbal agreements, with scholarship papers to be signed on arrival. I would think the "process" would consist of a phone call. I highly doubt that call will be made. For a player who does have a signed NLI, the new coach is obligated to honor it for that year as long as the player shows up and meets their obligations.

[Kiwon]

Regarding the four that are leaving, were their scholarships guaranteed even with a change in the coaching staff?

Under the rules, is it possible for a scholarship athlete to go to non-scholarship status through no choice of his/her own?

Scholarships are renewed annually. They are only "guaranteed" for one year. Of the 4 who are leaving, my best guess would be 2 were coaches decisions and 2 were players decisions. For a player who had his scholarship taken away to continue playing as a non-scholarship athlete would be highly unusual. They generally would seek to transfer or stay at the same school and not participate.

Got it. I have more sympathy for our 2014-15 players then.

There is no doubt that the MBB team needed upgrading but I hope that if someone in this group got his scholarship taken away yet he wanted to remain a student at LU that he could so as if he still was a scholarship student.

Basketball is a factor but my guess is that some kids choose Liberty primarily because of its Christian ethos and academic programs.

[olldflame]

Back in the day we had at least a couple of athletes who were dropped from scholarship but wanted to stay at Liberty, and Doc saw to it that their bill was paid. Things are handled differently now, but I wouldn't be surprised if something similar is still being done from time to time.

[olldflame]

As it stands today, if Gielo does not return we will have 1 Senior (Theo Johnson) and 0 Juniors on next year's roster.

[Sly Fox]

Players want to play in most cases.

[olldflame]

Players want to play in most cases.

That is definitely a factor in a lot of transfers. Clearly not with Gielo, and I wouldn't think with Andoh (AKA "One and Done Dave") either.

[olldflame]

This may or may not mean anything, but the 2015-16 roster has been posted on the AC site.

It does not include Retic, Moller, Andoh or Dembley.

It does not include any new recruits, which is normal until they enroll in school.

It DOES include Tomasz Gielo.

http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm ... asonID=330

[olldflame]

Some interesting stuff on the roster situation from Manson here:

http://www.libertyflamesnation.com/news ... tion-5815/

According to his source It was McKay's decision not to renew the scholarships of Retic, Dembley and Andoh. He also says "it is a 95% chance" that Jurch and Karwowski are not on the team next year. Either Ritchie and staff have a recruiting ace or 2 up their sleeves, or we are not going to have much size next year. No depth anyway. Obviously, Gielo returning would help a lot in that area, but I am hearing that may not happen. Considering all this, it would seem they must have had a fairly compelling reason to let Andoh, who would be your leading returning scorer and rebounder go, and I'm not talking about his atrocious assist/turnover rate.