Class Distinctions
Published 11:32 pm Wednesday, August 29, 2007
SEATTLE – No, that’s not a typo.
Quarterback Jake Locker is intentionally listed as a sophomore on this year’s University of Washington football roster. But don’t worry Husky fans, Locker did not somehow lose a year of eligibility when no one was looking. A redshirt freshman in the minds of most football followers, Locker is being listed, as are the rest of his teammates, by his academic standing rather than his football eligibility.
While the vast majority of NCAA football teams as well as Washington’s other athletic teams list players by eligibility, Huskies coach Tyrone Willingham has made it his policy to list players by academic standing.
That’s why you won’t see anyone on Washington’s roster listed as a redshirt freshman this year. Players will be listed as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors and fifth-year seniors.
Under NCAA rules, players are allowed one “redshirt” season during which if they do not appear in a game, they preserve a year of eligibility.
“We are an academic institution and these players are college students, so it makes sense for them to be listed by their academic year,” said Richard Kilwien, Washington’s associate athletic director for communications. “The main thing is that coach Willingham’s philosophy is that a fifth year is earned, which is why the roster supports that.”
So Jackson High School grad Johnie Kirton, who has a year of eligibility remaining after this season, is being called a senior. And tailback J.R. Hasty, who has three years of eligibility left including this one, and who has never played a down of college football, is listed as a junior because he is in his third year of school.
Last season, players were listed on the roster in the more traditional method, which led to controversy when a handful of players, who had been listed as juniors all season, were suddenly honored on senior day and were not invited back for a fifth year. University officials say that incident is not the reason for the change, and that Willingham wanted to list players by academic standing last season, but was unable to because media guides had already been put together.
Willingham has said in the past that a fifth year is a privilege that must be earned. Asked recently about the change, the third-year coach didn’t go into much detail.
“Why would you need to explain it?” he said. “It’s just one way of measuring while they’re here. We use that system, that’s all.”
