Dick Harmon: Mission age, NCAA rule changes close BYU's wiggle room

In this regard, this rush for JC players is BYU’s short-term solution to plan for the future while addressing current needs and dealing with signing high school athletes mission-bound right after graduating.

What you will see, said a BYU athletic official, is the school release a list of 25 signees Wednesday, but there will be a few recruits left off that official list. One might label those committed but unsigned because while they are pledged to join BYU after missions, there is no NCAA status tag to give them in a recruit class.

Bottom line: From now on, Mendenhall’s recruiters will need to be far more diligent in understanding exactly when LDS players who plan on going on missions will do so.

Wiggle room has been blocked, if not almost totally taken away.

And Mahe? If he had to do it all over again, he would love to be part of the wiggle room dynamic.

Dick Harmon, Deseret News sports columnist, can be found on Twitter as Harmonwrites and can be contacted at dharmon@desnews.com.