Good question Tejas, I've been wondering the same thing myself.  As my friend Iron Duke mentioned, there may be no money in Europe for Mike H or Marcus and they may return next year and why not if you are them.  I think it would be good for Hima, who obviously hasn't played in a while, to get a year under his belt backing up Mike.  I think we alll know Rotroff is just not the answer so hopefully Hima can become that - he has the length and athleticism.  

PistolPete wrote:

Good question Tejas, I've been wondering the same thing myself.  As my friend Iron Duke mentioned, there may be no money in Europe for Mike H or Marcus and they may return next year and why not if you are them.  I think it would be good for Hima, who obviously hasn't played in a while, to get a year under his belt backing up Mike.  I think we alll know Rotroff is just not the answer so hopefully Hima can become that - he has the length and athleticism.  

Not one minute at all? that seems strange.

My guess is that Hima is a non-qualifier non scholarship player, much like Ellis was his first year and sat out.
 

CLK wrote:

My guess is that Hima is a non-qualifier non scholarship player, much like Ellis was his first year and sat out.
 

 Just curious what this means. He would then be responsible for paying his own tuition and not eligible to play?
He would then still have four years of eligibility when he does begin his career, correct?
Wondering how some kids are able to afford to do this.
 

As usual great point Duq81 and football routinely works closely with the financial aid office at Duquesne and they do a great job of finding help for the kids who qualify. Recall KT being on the basketball team while on football scholarship as a creative example of finding a way

El Presidente wrote:

duq81 wrote:

El Presidente wrote:

 Just curious what this means. He would then be responsible for paying his own tuition and not eligible to play?
He would then still have four years of eligibility when he does begin his career, correct?
Wondering how some kids are able to afford to do this.
 

Financial aid is out there if you're working with people who know where to look.

Thanks for the quick response! Was thinking about a scholarship only.
 

To take it a step forward, I’ll explain it in the context of other sports. While there is a limitation on athletic scholarships for teams, there is no limitation on what level of academic scholarship an athlete can receive.

I came to Duquesne to play soccer, a sport that rosters 28-30 players, and generally have about 12-14 full scholarships to divvy up amongst the team. The way it works is you have a couple players on full rides (seniors and star players) and the rest get partials or only academic money. A lot of times you might start at 15% athletic money and incrementally “earn” more each year.

That being said, you can get generous amounts of academic scholarships to make up a lot of the difference. Safe to assume this is what is happening here. Nothing wrong with that. Happens everywhere in every sport and every school.

A bit of clarity....
NCAA Division 1 basketball is a Head Count sport and can only offer full-ride athletic scholarships or nothing to a player (13 full scholarships max). As a result, the non-scholarship players are either walk-ons and/or have other awards to help offset the cost of tuition.

As an aside, the other NCAA Division 1 head count sports that can only offer a full-ride scholarship to their athletes: FBS football, women’s basketball, women’s tennis, women’s gymnastics, and women’s volleyball.

Good info guys, thanks! Did not know there were different rules for different sports regarding aide, etc.

El Presidente wrote:

I trust that KD and staff know this stuff and that's plenty good enough for me!!!!!

I feel the same way. I have no idea how they aren't over the limit, but I trust they found a way. Of course the NCAA will probably close whatever loophole they're using soon.

townsonkid wrote:

phil95 wrote:

Do folks see him in uniform on the bench? Does he go through warm-ups?

He is with the team, doesnt dress, but is always around the huddles on the sidelines, and active with the players, talking and congratulating them.   I Dont think there was ever a plan to play him this year, if I remember correctly, he was considered a project somewhat.   Plus, wiith MH, MW, Rotroff and Kelly, why even waste a year of him playing a few minutes(like Ellis).   When Hughes leaves, Hima could be in the starting lineup if he can bring defense/rebounding to the table.

I feel the same way. If Hima can play good D, shot block,  and rebound, any offense that he brings will be enough with the other players around him. Looking forward to finding out just what he is capable of being next year.

I don't know about the academic non-qualifier. He attended private Catholic high schools in NJ, including the very prestigious St. Benedict's, and is studying computer science at Duquesne. Doesn't exactly fit the profile of an academic non-qualifier, but who knows, he hasn't been living in the US that long and English wouldn't be his first language. 

Keep in mind, while he went to St. Benedict's, one of the top HS basketball programs in the country, he played in just 11 of his team's 34 games last year, averaging 4.4 points, 4.3 rebounds. I know he had 10 blocks in one game and 6 in another, but not sure of his total. He played in just one game as a junior. He saw "limited action" at his previous high school. He grew up playing soccer in Niger. Between the program he played for and his size, he attracted a lot of interest from D1 programs, but he's the definition of a long-term project, not a blue-chip recruit by any stretch. I know he made an "unofficial" visit to URI last year, but I'd take his list of "offers" with a grain of salt. Though if we're now living in a world where kids turn down scholarship offers from more successful A10 programs to walk on at Duquesne, that would be an interesting development for sure.

apluski wrote:

I do not recall seeing/hearing/reading a blue-chip pronouncement from the staff regarding Mounir. 

Of course you don't. As lucky pointed out a few posts earlier, the staff has never said one word about Mounir, his signing was never announced (since he never actually signed an LOI), he announced his own commitment. This is so that he could join the program on whatever aid he's qualified for without counting as a "recruited athlete." 

apluski wrote:

I can assure you that your "...i'd take his list of "offers" with a grain of salt." pronouncement is not merely inaccurate, it is uninformed. 

I honestly don't know what to make of all the offers he's supposedly received. I'm aware that he's tweeted about receiving offers from schools including UMass and Bonaventure, I'm also aware that in interviews, including for his AAU team's Facebook page, he's been a bit more circumspect, only saying that he's talked to coaches or been contacted by them, considered this school or that school, but not that he had offers from them. But his list of offers is why Phil and other folks on this board are optimistic about his potential. For whatever reason, he didn't end up at any of these schools that supposedly offered him scholarships but instead walked on at Duquesne. Afraid I need a bit more of an explanation for that before I'll put a lot of stock in his other offers.

apluski wrote:

IBasing one's facts on reading these ludicrous recruiting forums is tantamount to searching for leprechauns. 

It's the "ludicrous recruiting forums" that act an an echo chamber for a kid's recruiting activity. I didn't get my information from them.

apluski wrote:

In truth, blue-blood basketball programs do not post the names of all players being actively recruited--not "kind of interested". Not "we sent information" recruitment. "Dead serious, all-out (and yes, even "we have a sweet deal for you" type recruitment).

I think I agree with you on this point, the recruiting information we get generally doesn't come from the schools until a kid actually signs his LOI. Which Mounir never did. Again, read lucky's post above if you haven't already. CLK does a great job of tracking recruiting info on this board but that information seems to originate from the kid being recruited, his HS or AAU coach or someone else in his camp. I'm not aware that Duquesne has ever formally announced that a player has been offered a scholarship until he actually signs his LOI.

apluski wrote:

Mounir was not merely standing on a street corner waiting for an offer after St Benedict. If you assume this young man is a project stiff, I would advise holding judgement.

I don't assume anything. Mounir is somewhere between 6-10 and 7-0 and by all accounts is an athletic big who runs the floor well. But he is still relatively new to the game and played sparingly in high school. He committed to us in May of his senior year after our recruiting class had already been finalized. Whether he's an academic non-qualifier or a developmental redshirt, he did not come to Duquesne on an athletic scholarship though may be on one now after Carry and Norman's departures. I've tempered my expectations accordingly. Oh and then there's the possibility that he suffered an injury that put a lot of teams off him, which I'm still not clear about. Remember the last player we recruited from St. Benedict's, a kid who had many better offers than Duquesne? How did that work out for us? Sorry if I sound cynical, but it's born of long experience as a Dukes fan. He's a high-upside kid and I'm glad we took a flyer on him, but I'll wait until he actually puts on the uniform and gets into a game before I start to think about what he'll contribute to the program down the road.