This
is an important week for John Garrett. On Wednesday, he will reveal the names
of the first early signees for his 2018 Lafayette College football team; and a
couple of days later, he will observe the first anniversary of his first year
as the man occupying the office in the corner of the Bourger Varsity Football
House.
For
the record, Lafayette will make its signing day announcement during the
halftime of the women’s basketball game, according to sports information
director Phil LaBella. LaBella said Garrett will be interviewed by Mike Joseph of
the Lafayette Sports Network. That will bear watching. Game time is noon.
I
asked Phil if a student-athlete who signs a letter of intent and who graduates
from high school in the middle of the 2017-18 year would be able to enroll at
Lafayette for the second semester in January and thus be eligible to
participate in spring practice.
Phil
said he had to check with the compliance people on campus and he later
responded by email, saying, “As long as a student-athlete has graduated, they
are allowed to enroll early and participate in practice. All of the NCAA
requirements must be completed along with initial eligibility requirements
(proof of grad, amateurism, test scores sent to eligibility center).” So, we’ll
see how that plays out.
But
for now, I’m going to attempt to put together my thoughts about my 10th
year as the Lafayette football beat writer for The Morning Call. I don’t think
anything I’ve written in my 53 years as a journalist has been more challenging
in many ways.
