The explanation of the new “financial aid agreement” is pretty interesting:
> Last month, the NCAA ruled that a prospect who is on track to graduate early from high school may choose to sign a financial-aid agreement with his or her school of choice, provided that the college confirms that the prospect is enrolled in all courses necessary to graduate from high school at the end of the fall semester.
> A financial-aid agreement differs from a national letter-of-intent, which binds a recruit to a college after signing. According to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the financial-aid agreement “locks the university into providing a scholarship but does nothing to commit the prospect to the university.”
> While the prospect would still be fair game to competing recruiters until the NLI is signed, the school would have unrestricted communication access to the prospect during the time between the signing of the two documents.
> Also, the ruling permits “publicity” of a recruit by a college – meaning that the school may announce the prospect who signs a financial-aid agreement as a future signee.
A, shockingly, reasonable move from the NCAA.