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New aid rule benefits players, programs

When Ben Hicks signed a financial aid agreement with Houston in August prior to his senior year of high school, the Cougars wasted no time in announcing the three-star quarterback as a member of their 2015 signing class in a press release.
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If it seems out of place that a school would make such an announcement months ahead of National Signing Day, that's because until last year, it wasn't allowed.
In 2013, the NCAA implemented a new rule change regarding financial aid and high school football prospects on track to graduate in December. The rule allows those prospects to sign financial aid papers with a school as soon as Aug. 1 of their senior year.
Here's the twist -- when the players signs, the school is obligated to the player, but the player is not obligated to the school.
The signing of a financial aid agreement allows a school to talk about the player publicly and allows unlimited contact between the two parties, including during the dead period from mid-December to mid-January. Prior to the rule change, early enrollees had to wait until at least the first day of classes of the spring term before they could sign aid agreements.
In the case of Hicks, months after signing the aid agreement with Houston, Cougars head coach Tony Levine was fired and a Cougars staff overhaul began. As it would turn out, Hicks decommitted from Houston and signed with SMU in December. Unlike a player who signed a national letter of intent, Hicks will not have to sit out a year before playing.
No harm, no foul on either side.
The public announcement by Houston and any contact between the Cougars' staff and the player during the dead period leading up to Hicks' decommitment are not violations.
In an email correspondence with Rivals.com, the NCAA outlined its current interpretation of the rule. A spokesperson said it's not a violation of the publicity rules if a school publicizes it has signed a prospect who intends to enroll at mid-year, even if the prospect ends up attending a different school. Also, it's not a violation of NCAA recruiting rules for a signing school to contact the prospect during a dead period, even if he later enrolled at another school. That contact would have been permissible at that time.
"It made the process a lot easier," Hicks said of the August signing. "I got to communicate with them freely and it was good to get the process (of building relationships) started early. It was easy to drive up and visit and see them whenever."
The new rule change obviously alters the recruiting game considerably, including how schools present these financial packages and how flexible they are with them. Some programs are taking advantage of the new rule, including UCLA. Quarterback Josh Rosen, the nation's No. 1 player, signed an aid agreement with the Bruins in August.
The benefits for the player include a scholarship and an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with the coaching staff prior to arriving on campus in January. In addition, there's no limit to the number of colleges a player can sign agreements with, and he can decommit without penalty at any time.
There's perks for the school as well. In addition to enjoying unlimited contact during the crucial dead period, being allowed to publicize the signing of high-profile recruit in August can bolster a program's momentum heading into February.
South Carolina commit Christian Owens of Griffin, Georgia, is a four-star tight end and one of nine early enrollees for the Gamecocks' 2015 class. He said coaches being allowed to publicly discuss recruits has worked greatly to his advantage.
"Once you sign that agreement, the coaches call pretty much whenever," Owens said. "We can mention each other on Twitter without having to DM. Once (the coaches) start mentioning me on Twitter, more fans get to know who you are and they start following you. So that helps a lot. It also helps me build a relationship with the coaches and coach (Steve) Spurrier."
Gamecocks assistant Steve Spurrier Jr. recognizes the how the school benefits from the rule and is a proponent.
"Obviously if you can get a guy to sign something that says he's coming to your school and you can keep talking about it, then it makes a difference," he told the media following a December practice. "And I'm kind of a fan of that."
The Gamecocks' nine early enrollees for the class of 2015 are the most South Carolina has had that Spurrier Jr. can recall since joining the staff in 2005 -- so it's easy to see how the new rule could be of great use to their program.
However, signing early enrollees to aid agreements in August hasn't been a common occurrence amongst most schools as of yet. At Georgia Tech, the new rule hasn't applied because they don't have many early enrollee prospects.
"So far the application of the rule hasn't changed our philosophy in recruiting," Yellow Jackets associate athletic director Shoshanna Engel said. "We don't sign a large amount of (early enrollee) prospects, and certainly not in August."
While the Jackets' recruiting philosophy hasn't changed, Engel said the program is taking a wait-and-see approach to the rule and how it may evolve in terms how other schools offer aid.
"Players are signing multiple aid agreements and this is still a new area to navigate," she said. "We take a strategic approach to who we recruit based on the needs and demands of Georgia Tech, so we don't find ourselves managing a large amount of (players who've signed multiple agreements)."
As both the school and players navigate through the new rule, the early indications appear that it's the first steps toward something beneficial to the recruiting process for both parties.
"It just makes the process go much more smoother if you're graduating early," Hicks said. "It's definitely an advantage."
"It's an advantage to the staff because they get to better support who they're going to be working with and plan accordingly," Engel said.
With the new rule comes perceived loopholes worth exploring, such as no requirement from a school to release information on which prospects it has signed to early aid agreements.
The National Letter of Intent process has a program in place that's regulated by the Conference Commissioners Association, which verifies and validates the NLIs signed by prospects.
However, who is monitoring the process allowed by the financial aid rule?
"There's no such formal program for tracking grants and aid," Engel said. "There's been a lot of discussion about that."
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