I always thought "walk-on" means "unrecruited" -- and that if a coach even calls you, you're not walking onto the team, you're invited. Probably just a personal bias.
If Frank Shorter was in fact unrecruited by anyone, I think his NCAA championship and 2 Olympic medals would qualify him as the best under that criterion, and probably the best under a much looser designation too.
Joseph has a point...teams often have what they term "invited walk-ons" meaning that even though they may not have a scholarship at first (based on the low #'s allowed for track/xc) they still will probably earn one eventually. I'd say the idea behind the thread is not these guys, but those who the coach wasn't even aware of (maybe even tried to get RID of) and yet turned out pretty darn good...
The fact is that Mitchell was a scholarship athlete and gave up his money to become a HOG. By the way, at the time Tenessee was not some piece of shit school, they were a very good program. His failure to develop was due to personal decisions that held him back, in Fayetteville, well, let's just say he was more focused. As a volunteer I think he was just intimidated while racing the HOGS, then he became one-problem solved.
BTW the NCAA classifies a walk-on as an unrecruited athlete that just walks into your office one day without any prior contact-no calls, no visits, no evaluations. If you call the athlete even once, they are considered a recruit, it will count against you(12.6 limit) if say the athlete gets non-athletic scholarship money. That's technical, but it is the rule on walk-ons.
I was wondering if anyone (preferably somebody who went to Arkansas) could clear up the facts regarding a rumor I heard a while back. Is it true that even "walk-on" athletes get almost all their room and board taken care of down there? I heard they somehow manage to not report this as scholarships, while still effectively getting the benefit of room and board.
This is not true about anyone getting room and board. Very far from it. Arkanas operates like any other University, although the cost of living is less than Palo Alto, Boston or Boulder.
Duh!!!! What the hell are you talking about. Your comment about a walk-on not being able to be contacted by the coach? So how do Harvard and Princeton field teams? They have no athletic scholarships, so they rely on academic scholarships (if they're available). You are completely wrong about the academic scholarships. Check with NCAA. An incoming freshman cannot combine academic and athletic aid. It has to be all academic or all athletic. After their freshman year, they can receive academic help (on top of their athletic scholarship) if they earn that academic aid. Whether a coach has called you or brought you in for a visit is completely irrelevant. You should check these things before posting something so far from the truth. If that were the rule, coaches would have to be extremely careful on who to contact and their level of academics would have to be considered before even making contact. DUHH!!!!
As far as Mitchell, the results speak for themselves. 200th place at NCAAs to 7th or 8th place in one year...
Bo Reed at NAU in the mid to late 80's. Walked and had his ass handed to him for 2 or 3 yrs...then 3rd at NCAA's and 28:20
Horace Ashenfelter-5:20 miler in HS.Walked on at Penn State.Olympic Gold Medalist in the Steeple.
Nick Rogers-Spent a year at Eastern before transferring to Oregon.Walked on there.I think he only competed one season though.Anyway, eventually became 13:18/27:XX guy.
Arkansas,
Of course I never said coaches can't contact a walk-on, they can, but if they do, and the athlete is getting "some types" of aid-that amount of aid WILL count against the limit. A reading lesson would do you some good, next would be a comprehension lesson. I never said anything about academic scholarships, as a matter of fact I never gave any type of decription of scholarship. I just got off the phone with my compliance director, and asked him to give me what specificly counts against the limit(12.6). He said that the "aid" that counts against are scholarships that are not determined by strictly academic rules. So here we have the academic area cleared up for you. Next, the Pell Grant does not count against the limit because it is an unbiased, need based federal grant. Available to all who qualify. You can even get your Pell and be on scholarship! So unbiased aid available to all doesn't count, and selective aid like Kiwanis scholarships, memorial scholarships, Lions Club, ELKS, and American Legion scholarships, community award scholarships count. Freshmen can combine athletic and academic aid as long as the academic is awarded solely upon the basis of academics. Now, if a coach doesn't contact you, the aid/scholarship doesn't count against you. So in effect, the recruited walk-on counts against you, and the true walk-on, i.e. the guy who just walks through your door one day and says "I want to run", doesn't. So you see, I have checked "these things", and they aren't far from the truth, as a matter of fact, they are the truth.
As far as Mitchell goes, when you give up a scholarship that covers about 80% of your school cost, you are not a walk-on, you are a guy that made a decision to get better coaching at your own expense.
Have a Nice Day!