Mike Machnik writes:
> I believe Ralph asked how a school knows how many scholarships to
> offer.  This is probably one of the easier things to do, I think.  You
> sit down at some point and map out who will be coming back next year
> and receiving scholarships, and subtract the total from the limit.
> Or, if you are at the limit, the number of scholarships that are given
> up by players who you know are graduating, leaving school for one
> reason or another, etc. is the same as the amount you can offer.
 
Well, with the NHL drafting players before college, it CAN be a little more
complicated than that.  (see below)  And I could see how it could OCCASIONALLY
become a problem, but not to the extent allegedly* apparent at BC.
 
{Mike's example omitted in futile attempt at brevity.}
>
> Do some schools intentionally offer more scholarships than they know
> they have, figuring that some kids will say no?  I can't know for sure -
> of course it is possible.  The next question is how they deal with it
> when everyone they offer to accepts.  I don't know, but I would think
> that if it were a widespread problem, we would have heard more about
> it by now.  Someone would get angry and speak up.
 
I'm pretty sure Doug Woog doesn't do it that way.
 
I can only tell you what we know is going on here with Casey Hankinson.
It was assumed in Minnesota last year that Craig Johnson would not be returning
to the Gophers after the Olympics, but that Darby Hendrickson might.  It turned
out that *Hendrickson* DID sign with Toronto, although St. Louis is giving
Johnson some problems, and he may still return for his senior year.  Situations
like this certainly complicate the process of recruiting the incoming class.
Fortunately, in this case the differences between the expected and actual
signings balance out.  Hankinson currently does not have a scholarship, but will
get one if Johnson does not return.
 
Of course, this would be a much dicier situation if the financial stakes were
higher, if Hankinson's parents couldn't easily afford the tuition because a) his
parents weren't as well off (his Dad's developing a golf course with Jack
Nicklaus-make your own assumptions from there) and/or b) (the case that
certainly applies at BC) lower-division tuition at Minnesota was much more than
about $3000/year (an advantage of recruiting in-state residents).  In that case,
what Woog would probably do is not recruit anyone, but use the extra scholarship
for partial scholarships to reward the performance of walk-ons or players who
accepted partial scholarships (and, of course, there have to be a few of these,
given the NC$$ limit of 18 scholarships in a sport where you suit up 20
players/game - grumble, grumble...)   Players like Gopher "All-Walk-On Team"
members Tony Bianchi (Gopher broadcaster Frank Mazzocco's nomination) and Jon
Anderson (my very biased White Bear Lake nomination, who scored a hat trick in
the 1989 NC&& semi-final) are recent examples.
 
As I said, I can see that situations with players considering leaving for
Olympic and pro teams could occasionally lead to problems in assessing the
number of scholarships available, but it seems like it allegedly* happened
repeatedly at BC.
 
*  I don't have a lawyer to advise me on such matters, but I figured I'd cover
my behind and include the "allegedly"s anyway.  :-)
 
Pam Sweeney                            Go Gophers!!!
[log in to unmask]      1993 & 1994 WCHA Playoff Champions!!!
                                  1994 NC$$ PHinal PHour!!!
                                        Ski-U-Mah!!!