I am confused about the whole graduation thing. Does this mean that Custis will have to get an Associated degree from Hutchison JC before he can play for a 4 year school, regardless of where that may be? I don't recall JC graduation ever being a requirement in the past.
1. KW was never not qualified to come to GT. He was cleared by the clearinghouse when he went to NCSU. He chose to go to a JUCO after a year at NCSU in prder to avoid sitting out a year and losing that year of eligibility.
2. Since he already had a year of core classes, he was in position to try and graduate in 1 years time. It appears he came up just short of that goal.
3. Not graduating, however, does not make him ineligible for GT. His classes at GMC were already deemed suitable for transfer and he's already been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse to play FBS football. Again, he was a qualifier out of high school.
4. His ineligibility to play this year is simply due to not graduating from GMC. Had he graduated, he was eligible to play immediately. Since he didn't, he is now treated as a normal transfer student who has to sit out for a year.
5. Custis and Autry are not cleared by the clearinghouse, and therefore have to choose either the JUCO or Prep School route. Totally different than the KW situation.
6. Custis and Autry have to be cleared by the clearinghouse. I don't believe they necessarily have to get associates degrees to do so, but they do have to get cleared. Autry, if he goes to prep school, will be treated as if he came straight from high school. He will have all his eligibility intact. Custis, as a JUCO guy, will have two years of eligibility. KW's situation was unique in that, if he succeeded in graduating from GMS, he would have had three years of eligibility left.
Hope this answers some of your questions.