Tuesday, May 02, 2006

I-AA It is; I-AA It Will Be ... For Another Year

It looks as if the I-A and I-AA labels will last at least one more year according to this Sports Network article. One change at the I-AA level that isn't really relevant to the Ivy League: Starting a year from now, a I-A player stepping down to play at the I-AA level has to have two years of eligibility remaining in order to play right away. He can sit out a year and then play a single year (thereby spending two years at his new school) but he can't transfer in, suit right up and use his final year of eligibility. The feeling apparently was that too many I-A players were moving to I-AA schools for football alone, with some leaving school after playing a final season. It's not unusual for Ivy schools to have players transfer down and play (Dartmouth had Pete Oberle come in from Colorado State, Greg Smith from Missouri and Scott Wille from Wisconsin) but I can't off the top of my head remember anyone at an Ivy school coming in for just one season. (Crawford Palmer played just one season of Dartmouth basketball after transferring from Duke, but he sat out a year.)

Missed this one earlier. Harvard offensive tackle Brian Lapham has received an offer from the Cincinnati Bengals. There's a short, but interesting writeup about him on the Cincinnati web page. Turns out Lapham is the nephew of the Bengals' radio analyst. ... Another Dartmouth opponent getting a free agent offer is UNH tight end Jonathan Williams, who is going to the Rams. Still nothing on the Nick Hartigan front. And no reports yet on Holy Cross utility player Steve Silva landing with a team either. For a list of I-AA free agents who have been invited to NFL camps as of yesterday, click here. For a list of all I-AA draft picks since 1990, click here.

If you are coming to town for Saturday's Green-White scrimmage, there's a 2006 Dartmouth roster available to print here but it hasn't been updated yet to reflect several number changes (among others, Milan Williams is wearing No. 3, Casey Frost No. 6 and Corey Goff No. 5) and includes several players who are not with the team this spring. I'll check and see if rosters will be available Saturday.

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