The Sacramento Bee ran a story June 4 that mysteriously reappeared for a time on its website today and that reminds us that the business of college sports is not what it was back in the early 1940s when Jackie Robinson played football for UCLA (photo). Excerpt:Ending weeks of speculation, Eddie Vanderdoes made it official Tuesday: He will not attend Notre Dame on a football scholarship and will instead play at UCLA.
Vanderdoes, the 6-foot-4, 305-pound All-America defensive end from Placer High School, expressed gratitude to Notre Dame in a text sent to The Bee for being "gracious" in the process of his reconsideration. He nearly signed with UCLA in February after a whirlwind recruiting process in which he was listed as a top-10 national recruit. Vanderdoes did not explain why he changed his mind about Notre Dame, but he suggested the switch to UCLA is primarily because he wants to be closer to family.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said the school will not release Vanderdoes from the letter he signed in February, meaning Vanderdoes would need to sit out one season under NCAA rules... "We did not release him from his national letter of intent in order to protect the integrity of that very important program," Kelly said in a statement released by Notre Dame...
Full article at http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/04/5471412/vanderdoes-passes-on-notre-dame.html
Did Robinson have to sign a letter of intent to play college football? Yours truly doubts it.
Today's Daily Bruin says Vanderdoes will be allowed to play after all:
http://dailybruin.com/2013/07/30/freshman-defensive-lineman-eddie-vanderdoes-cleared-to-play-for-ucla/
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