Dick Harmon: Oversigning recruits can get out of hand

The ugly part of oversigning is highlighted at LSU when Les Miles cut quarterback Chris Garrett after misjudging how many of his academically challenged signees would qualify. He had more recruits than scholarships and in the summer had to tell signees Elliott Porter and Cameron Fordham, guys whod turned down scholarships at other places, that there was no room for them. Porter had already taken classes and had a dorm room.

Not good.

Oversigning per se isnt a crime. Abusing it, like schools in the SEC apparently do all the time, is against neither the law nor the NCAAs toothless and gutless rule.

But you get the picture.

In a sport that uses the talents of a lot of athletes for myriad things including million-dollar athletic budgets, ticket sales, promotions and such, it gets a little hairy when the NCAA restricts so many parts of the individuals rights, but allows this indiscretion.

Locally, I believe Utah and BYU do oversign recruits some years but their operations dont even come close to approaching the SEC and Big 12, who blatantly abuse the rule. The locals, including Utah State, might announce signings of recruits who will go on LDS missions immediately.

In fact the local guys keep it very close because theyve greatly benefited from giving scholarships to deserving walk-ons. They like that ploy. At Utah, Christian Cox, Steve Tate and Casey Evans come to mind. At BYU, Scott Johnson, Ben Criddle and Andrew Rich fit in this category.

It may seem a little trivial as signing day approaches. But it is one more in a growing stack of jokes about the way the NCAA does things: Having rules without teeth.

e-mail: dharmon@desnews.com

twitter: Harmonwrites