Ongoing UF Softball Commentary

All I know for a certainty is she posted on twitter (X, whatever) five days ago that she was a signee and posed in a Gator uniform, which I doubt she sowed herself. I don't understand how that fits in with having a tryout to walk on. And there is still the issue that she signed a NLI with Ole Miss and she has to be released from that or win an appeal to be eligible this year as far as I understand it.

 

Yeah, there's now way she let Ole Miss and UF know via twitter. This most certainly has been going on at a minimum since the Vawter decision. The likely scenario is UF recruited her but was honest she was behind Keegan and Ava in the pecking order and we wanted an experienced pitcher to go with the youngsters. When that fell thru I'm sure UF reached out thru back channels to see if she might still be interested. She says yes and the ball gets rolling in a hurry.

 

Eligibility is tied to NIL now?

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

No. NLI....National Letter of Intent. Every college athlete has to sign one. It contains a one year eligibility restriction if you sign one with a school but don't fulfill a year with that school and transfer. You must get either a voluntarily release from the original school or win an appeal with the national NLI board to get out of it and be eligible at the new school. And, anticipating the next confusion, this has nothing to do with the transfer portal and being immediately eligible through that process. The NLI is a signed and binding contract. Olivia did not go through the portal process.

 

LOL, I need more coffee.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

Unless someone else knows differently and definitely, Ole Miss will have to release Olivia Miller for her to be eligible in the 25 season. It's an NCAA and SEC rule.

The SEC rule is why Skylar Wallace had to sit out a year. Alabama did not release her to transfer within conference. UF may still only have 2 pitchers for the 25 season. Hopefully, Ole Miss will play nice, but this is the SEC we are talking about where it means more.

 

Splitting hairs as the end result is the same....if Ole Miss doesn't release her from the NLI, or if she can't win an appeal with the national NLI board, she won't be eligible this year as I understand it. It isn't a NCAA or SEC rule per se....it is because of the terms she and her parents entered into in a binding contract. No dispute she signed with UF. She said so. Walton said so. What I don't know, and nobody officially has addressed, is if the act of signing is something she could do while still under the restriction in the NLI, or if the act of signing means she has the release.

 

Shifting the debate....Sept. 1 is just about here and that means phone calls start flying at 12:01 AM to the 2025 Class seeking commitments. Walton is following 21 Class 2025 players. Ten of them, or almost half, are pitchers. While who he follows on twitter isn't necessarily a complete list of who he might be recruiting, it is certainly a start. I'm not going to try to list them all but I'll try to follow things as they occur. However, something extra stands out to me with four of them. Francesca and Tim are following two of them. Francesca is not following any of the others. I don't know if that means a special emphasis but it could. Those two are....Berkley Zache, a pitcher and Elsa Morrison, a catcher. Elsa plays on Texas Bombers 18U Gold with our 2024 commit, Townsen Thomas so add that to the interest. Likewise, Zache plays on the Beverly Bandits with Gabi Comia, again adding extra intrigue. The two other things that stand out...Natalie Cable is a pitcher who has camped with us and Kai Minor is also followed by Taylor Shumaker and Jocey. That may not mean much since Kai plays on Batbusters-Stith as does Taylor and as did Jocey before college. So that could be friendship alone and not mean more. Edit: Add a fifth specific interest.....watching very closely what JoJo Lamar does.

 

As I posted on the Softball Portal Thread CTW said last night at the Diamond Club Olivia Miller is signed. I asked him why there had been no Official Edit, and he just stared at me blankly and then said he would check on it.

Katelynn "Red" Oxley is a pitcher from Bartow who will sign in November. for the 2024 class. Bartow won the Class A state championship this year.
Does anyone know all the commits who will sigh in November?

 

Commitments for November to sign include Gabi Comia, Oxley, Taylor Shumaker, Townsen Thomas and hopefully Layla Lamar who seems to be still fully committed even with the tragedy involving her father. I think that's it unless there is a late surprise. Another superb class.

So, to your understanding then, since everyone agrees Miller has signed, that then means the issue with the NLI with Ole Miss is resolved and she is immediately eligible? Great news if that is the case. Some seem to find it humorous I remain concerned until it is officially announced that she is not only signed but eligible. Witness the Skylar saga. She announced the transfer from Bama and she was officially announced by Gator Softball, which I don't think they can do under the rules unless she had signed. She was operating at that time without having a release from Bama and after she was officially announced we continued to try to appeal to the SEC to get a waiver from the rule and it was denied. So, I have reasons for concern and wanting an official announcement confirming her eligibility more than just she "signed".

 

Rick, I am in agreement with you, until the NLI is resolved with Ole Miss and the NCAA releases her, this next season is still in question. I am sure that is why Softball has not officially acknowledged her on social media.

 

Sandman just posted a short while ago in the portal thread that he was at last night's meeting and it was confirmed Olivia is eligible. That is wonderful and the first time I know that anyone has addressed that specific question. So, I am running very happily with that information and awaiting an official announcement from UF that is yet to come.

 

Two things:
1. Skylar was signed but had to redshirt because Patrick Murphy is an ass.
In the end, it worked out great as she gets to mentor this new class.
2. I'm pretty sure that CTW would not announce publically that Miller is signed if she had not been released.
Just my two cents.

 

Two entirely different situations. We’ve already been over this. There were lots of kids that had to sit out because of the old SEC-SEC rule. Can you name a single kid in the portal era who has been denied a release from their LOI? How about one even in the last decade?

Either way, whether it happens, doesn’t happen, or has already happened (most likely), knowing now or the first game ain’t gonna change anything. Continuously repeating the same question over and over again isn’t going to change the outcome.

 

True about Murph but both situations, one over the NLI contract and the other over a SEC rule that no longer exists, required a release from the original institution or there is a year penalty. The NLI situation is even worse because if my memory is correct from what I read in the actual contract, if you don't get the release or win an appeal, you not only have to sit out the year but you also lose a year of eligibility.

 

I must say, I am stunned. I was always under the impression if you beat dead horse enough it would come back to life!

 

I will get off-topic, but this is excellent news for Layla Lamar and her family.

Best Birthday Gift! James is finally back home, doing well & was able to enjoy Kayden’s 1st Game!! Thanks for all the love & prayers!

 

In softball, you need one dominant pitcher to win championships. Don’t think we have that yet, so likely good but not great team next year

 

Time will tell. I feel this will be the best season since 2018. Next year I want to be a top 8 seed. haven't had a top 8 seed since 2019.

 

In 2021, we were a # 4 seed, Bama was #3 seed and Arkansas was #6 seed. That’s when UGA upset us in Super Regionals for the second time.