Oregon Squeezes In New Recruits

(From the Register-Guard)

UO Football
By Rob Moseley

Appeared in print: Monday, Feb 1, 2010

In two days Oregon will announce its latest recruiting class, a new crop of players who will have to be shoehorned onto the roster without the Ducks’ exceeding the NCAA limit of 85 scholarship athletes.

An unofficial reckoning of the UO football roster shows a minimum of 66 scholarship players from the 2009 Pac-10 championship team who had at least one year of eligibility remaining. And as of Sunday evening, Oregon was thought to have 19 recruits committed to join the team by next fall.

That already adds up to 85 players for 2010, and the Ducks aren’t finished recruiting the new class. But a number of possibilities could arise that allow Oregon to add another handful of prospects.

One factor is the annual attrition that typically takes place during the offseason. Between the 2008 and 2009 seasons, at least seven scholarship players left the program before their eligibility was up.

Receiver Aaron Pflugrad (Arizona State), quarterback Justin Roper (Montana) and athlete Chris Harper (Kansas State) transferred directly to other Division I schools. Tight end Mychal Rivera moved on to a junior college — he’s in line to sign with Tennessee on Wednesday — and defensive end Dominic Glover was declared ineligible. Glover also enrolled at a junior college, and he intends to sign with Oregon State this week.

Rumors have abounded recently about current Ducks who may leave the team this offseason, but the athletic department has yet to confirm any departures by veterans.

There’s also the chance of incoming recruits electing to “grayshirt” and delay their enrollment until after the 2010 season. That would keep them from counting against the scholarship limit until members of the senior class are off the books.

In addition, veteran walk-ons are sometimes granted scholarships for a season with little guarantee that they’ll be renewed.

Three of the new recruits are already on campus — junior-college transfers Ryan Clanton, Isaac Remington and Brandon Williams. And at least two incoming prep recruits, defensive backs James Scales and Dior Mathis, are believed to be considering early enrollment to participate in spring drills come April.

The real numbers crunch would occur in the fall, when the remainder of the new recruits arrive on campus. But by that time there may end up being room for all the new faces.