That's an answer to a question, but may not specifically answer the intended question. Again, what prevents a kid from accepting admission to university , enrolling, accepting some form of financial aid, yet never formally signing a LOI? Even if the kid effectively counts against 's possible athletic scholarship limit, does his enrollment require a LOI? Yes, the hypothetical scenario may be a slim, subtle difference.
I'm at a loss here, and again, I'm worried that crazy dan, has been right all along.
All a letter of intent was created for, is a pressure release valve in the world of recruiting. That's it. When a player signs the NLI, that player is no longer free game on the range. Period. That's what the whole thing was created for.
Now, as I've learned recently, the process has continually changed, and I believe, in addition, to basically shutting down a player's recruiting, also incorporates wording guaranteeing a scholarship now -at least for a period of time.
There was a time, when both things were separate, a letter of intent and a scholarship contract. I'm pretty sure that the formal scholarship funding paperwork is still separate from a letter of intent.
If that is true, these days, when a school issue's a signed NLI, to an athlete, signed by the school staff - that school is essentially committing scholarship money to that athlete - in writing. That's not the way it once was, and to me, makes it even more imperative, that a signed NLI froma university, not be treated lightly. As i"ve said 100,000 times, in recruiting, your reputation is all you got.
So - in answer to:
"Again, what prevents a kid from accepting admission to university , enrolling, accepting some form of financial aid, yet never formally signing a LOI? Even if the kid effectively counts against 's possible athletic scholarship limit, does his enrollment require a LOI?"
My answers respectively are: Nothing, and No.