Looking into Minnesota's scholarship options after Lofton's dismissal

Last night, the University of Minnesota officially dismissed Illinois State transfer Zach Lofton from its basketball program.

A few minutes later, Gophers fans were already speculating about what options the team had for bringing in another player to fill the now empty roster spot.

Today, I got a little clarification about those options from Dan Reisig, the team's official spokesperson.

In the NCAA, scholarships are issued by the year, and are essentially guaranteed for that time frame barring any criminal arrests. Reisig compared the 13 scholarships a program is able to offer in any given year to 13 balloons. Once a student-athlete accepts financial aid in a given year, the balloon is popped; it can't be reinflated again regardless of what happens with the student-athlete.

If Lofton decides to stay in school at Minnesota -- he was only removed from the team, not the university -- he can keep the scholarship for one full school year. If he decides to a) transfer or b) hire an agent in an attempt to go pro, he violates the terms of his scholarship and loses it, but the university still can't use the empty spot for someone else.

Essentially, this NCAA rule was created to prevent coaches from arbitrarily kicking student-athletes off a team throughout the year to obtain more talented players as they become available.

However, this doesn't necessarily mean the Gophers aren't able to bring in another player this year. Hypothetically speaking, Minnesota could find a second-semester transfer. It would have to be the right fit, of course -- the athlete would have to be in a strong enough financial situation to pay out of pocket for one semester while redshirting and would have to be very motivated to play in the Big Ten or for Minnesota. This probably would be an under-the-radar type player with some size who could be developed into a solid role player. In other words, Pitino's specialty. In this scenario -- unless the athlete was able to receive a waiver -- he would be eligible in the second semester of next season.

First, the leadership concern. Since Pitino first addressed media this fall, he fretted publicly about the newcomers' understanding of what it takes to be a part of a team at this level. It's likely that Pitino's decision to kick Lofton off the team had something to do with that. Removing one bad apple and add another good branch -- if the team can land a very strong "character" guy -- could allow the process to take two steps forward.

Secondly, it would make a difference in practice. Right now, the team is down a body, which can complicate rotations. If any injuries -- such as Mo Walker's tweaked hamstring -- arise, that process can get even more cramped.