Michigan has accepted a grey-shirt commitment from KY S Jeremy Clark. Jeremy has a 2* rating on scout. He's a consensus 6-4 (ESPN says 6-2), with two votes for 205 pounds and two votes for 185 pounds. Jeremy did very well at the Michigan camp so the staff gave him the greyshirt offer. The thing about this is Jeremy will have to pay for his first semester that being said I would say he loves Michigan. Clark has a full ride offer from Illinois but chooses to come and pay to earn a spot at Michigan! OH S Jarrod Wilson spot may become open if he commits elsewhere. If that happens the greyshirt status may be lifted. Also because Jeremy is greyshirt status this does not effect Michigan's 2012 commit numbers. We are still at 16 commits for 2012.
Grey-shirting:
While most people are familiar with the phrase "red-shirt" most people have no idea what a grey-shirt is. In fact, the NCAA does not even acknowledge the term.
Here is how grey-shirting works:
- A player commits to a team that is over-signed.
- That player either doesn't go to school in the fall, or enrolls part-time and pays their own way. They are not officially on the team.
- In January of the following year, that player enrolls full-time and officially joins the team. They are technically part of the recruiting class for the following year.
Grey-shirting is a way for schools to skate around the recruiting rules. It allows schools to over-sign, regardless of how many prospects they signed the previous year.
Every player has a five year window to play four seasons. That window starts the second a player is enrolled in college full-time or are on scholarship. Since the player is not enrolled full time and is not on scholarship, their "NCAA clock" has not started.
Once they join a team, they still have the full five year window and the ability to red-shirt if they so choose.
While grey-shirting, players are not on the team.
They can not practice or condition with the team. They can not be given any advantage not extended to the normal student body. Grey-shirts are not allowed at team meetings or functions either. For all intents they are essentially, regular students.
