Collegiate Times

"Removing a scholarship takes pretty egregious action," Simmons said, though he would not clarify what is classified as "egregious."

Because Luckett is from Mays Landing, N.J., his scholarship covers full out-of-state tuition at Tech -  a scholarship guaranteed at least through the fall semester, though he may not see Worsham Field again until 2009. The status of his scholarship will be evaluated again before the spring semester.

"(Coaches) are allowed to say, 'We're going to pay for this semester, but not for next,'" Ballein said. "It would still count in the (number of scholarships NCAA permits for the football team in a given year), but you won't be paying for the student."

Ballein added that rarely does the university administration get involved in suspending a player from a sports team. Rather, head coaches and judicial affairs are primarily responsible for the disciplinary measures.

The Office of Judicial Affairs did not return phone calls to the Collegiate Times.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Though an athlete may be suspended for the season from a particular sport, he or she will not necessarily lose a scholarship. In most cases, the NCAA leaves discipline up to the school.

When it comes to scholarship money, Lisa Rudd, the assistant director of athletics for financial affairs, said that her office processes the requests for revoking and applying scholarships.

"If we get a note from the coach that says to cancel it, we cancel it," Rudd said. "Sometimes they don't re-award it at all."

Gary Steck, assistant business manager in the athletic department, said that scholarships are a commodity and not always re-awarded immediately. Scholarships are given and taken away on a case-by-case basis.

"They are precious, so they won't just give it out because it's available," Steck said.

In football, only full scholarships are offered. These are granted one year at a time, though Simmons said that many student athletes often mistakenly think they are offered four-year plans.

NCAA rules regulate the number of scholarships at 85, but do not set a maximum monetary value. At Tech, the value of a scholarship is established based on several factors.

"We base the value on budgetary things," Steck said. "There is a certain amount of scholarships based on the cost of attendance, a number that is predetermined in conjunction with the financial aid office. Full scholarships provide five components: full tuition, full fees, room, board and books. The number is determined with the financial aid office."

Virginia Tech's website estimates the total cost of in-state attendance at between $13,674 and $15,900 per year and the cost of out-of-state attendance between $26,301 and $28,527.

Just as the university is responsible for assessing each athlete's scholarship, Tech's coaches are also accountable for deciding when to take the financial aid packages away.

In the event that a football scholarship is removed, Simmons said that the money is recycled into the fund for the following year.

Though students can remain on scholarship while suspended from a sports team, if they are suspended from the university they are no longer eligible for financial aid. In order to receive scholarship money, a student must be enrolled in 12 or more credit hours. Revoking a scholarship is done on a team-by-team basis, as there are no set university guidelines.

Cobb said that when the university suspends a student-athlete, the NCAA does not typically place additional sanctions on them.

"Once their suspension is lifted, they would have access to every facility that any student-athlete would, and they would have access to everything other student-athletes would, unless the coach decides to put stricter sanctions down," Cobb said.

Cobb added that precedent plays a role when determining punishments.

"We have a database, so we go in, look at similar violations and see what those schools did, and then do something along the same lines," Cobb said. "We know (the NCAA) won't come back and say our sanctions weren't harsh enough then."

If a player on scholarship leaves the program voluntarily during the fall semester -- such as by leaving the university or graduating -- Steck said that the university has the option to do a "mid-year replacement," a move where the money could be re-allocated in the spring semester.

On the contrary, if a scholarship athlete is removed from the university's team for disciplinary causes, the scholarship is not eligible to be re-assigned, Cobb said.

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