Making the morning rounds.• Left behind. South Carolina commit Lorenzo Mauldin said he felt "shoved away" when Carolina informed him – via a fax to Mauldin's high school in Atlanta – the day before he was set to sign with the Gamecocks earlier this month that they no longer had room for him in the 2011 signing class. Mauldin, a ward of the state who's been through 16 foster homes and two group homes, said he accepted USC's scholarship offer last July, and still has some work to do to qualify academically. But so do several of the 31 players whose signatures South Carolina did accept on Feb. 2 – not to mention mega-hyped defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who signed on Feb. 14 with his academic fate still in the air – a number that already puts the 'Cocks well over NCAA scholarship limits if everyone makes it to campus in August.
If Mauldin doesn't make the test scores he needs, he'll likely end up at a prep school with a chance to join South Carolina in the future, and is also talking to other schools in case he does qualify. But even after back-counting early enrollees from the new class toward last year's numbers, Carolina still has 28 players scheduled to arrive for fall practice, meaning it's actively counting on at least three of them to fail academically or otherwise wash out in the meantime to hit the NCAA-mandated limit of 25 new additions. "We’ve handled it," coach Steve Spurrier said on signing day. "Hopefully they're still going to be with us. That's about all I can tell. … We'll see how it plays out down the road." According to the rules, it plays out with multiple kids who expected to get scholarships not getting them, one way or another. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
• Just the man for a judgement call. New LSU offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe has fulfilled the mission of all new coaches by declaring the Tigers' starting quarterback job wide open until he actually sees the candidates, seniors Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee and JUCO transfer Zach Mettenberger, with his own eyes. "I told the players the other day, 'If someone hands you a check for $10,000 and says you get to invest this,' you're not going to throw it in whatever investment you hear about first,” Kragthorpe said Wednesday. "You’re going to do some research." That makes sense, but the players wouldn't know, really, because they're officially prohibited from developing any concept of money. [Baton Rouge Advocate]
• Frogs under fire. A former TCU student who claimed she was raped by Horned Frog athletes in 2006 has filed a lawsuit against the university alleging it ignored the "criminal records, unsavory behavior and academic failings" of the athletes. The woman initially agreed to drop the charges against 300-pound offensive lineman Lorenzo Jones and basketball players Virgil Taylor and Shannon Behling when a prosecutor told her a court case would be difficult to win. All three players were expelled from the university for violating a policy against inflicting bodily injury or emotional harm. But the suit alleges that Jones should have never been admitted to TCU due to low grades and a guilty plea to misdemeanor assault just weeks before enrolling in 2005, and should have been expelled earlier for "verbal outbursts" in an English class that led the instructor to try to have him removed. [Associated Press]
• Second-chance Buckeye. Hopefully, Ohio State will fare better with incoming offensive lineman Chris Carter, who officially signed with the Buckeyes/a> on Thursday – three weeks after the 6-6, 350-pounder was arrested for allegedly fondling underage girls at his high school while pretending to measure them for an ROTC uniform. Those charges were dropped for a lack or evidence of sexual contact or conduct. [Columbus Dispatch]
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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