Gaige Garcia

[van]

football and wrestling and academics at Lehigh would be quite a challenge, I suppose it works best if he concentrated on football in fall semester and wrestling in winter/spring, this transfer is a home run for both sports and fills big needs

[TMH]

Here is my problem:

Gone are the days of separate fall, winter and spring seasons. Lehigh may have a handful of matches already in by the Lehigh-Lafayette game. Then there is the weight adjustment from football to wrestling and almost no training, final exams etc. I suspect Gaige will not make his debut until the tournaments over the break and he may not reach expectations even then.

I also suspect that his scholarship is coming via football so as of now, that is probably the top priority. That however can switch as time goes on. I assume Gaige has the full 4 years of eligibility left.

[jdalu75]

Here is my problem:

Gone are the days of separate fall, winter and spring seasons. Lehigh may have a handful of matches already in by the Lehigh-Lafayette game. Then there is the weight adjustment from football to wrestling and almost no training, final exams etc. I suspect Gaige will not make his debut until the tournaments over the break and he may not reach expectations even then.

I also suspect that his scholarship is coming via football so as of now, that is probably the top priority. That however can switch as time goes on. I assume Gaige has the full 4 years of eligibility left.

He should have five years to compete four. Means he could do one sport for four years and the other in the fifth. Just a thought.

[HFO]

Football #1
Will show up later for wrestling. Will beat out anyone we have at 197.
Likely to move up to 285. His playing weight is about 230lbs. Expect him there 2023.

[TMH]

Football #1
Will show up later for wrestling. Will beat out anyone we have at 197.
Likely to move up to 285. His playing weight is about 230lbs. Expect him there 2023.

Just wondering where you found his playing weight at 230#. Michigan had him listed at 205# for football last year.
He is only 5-10 and doesn't seem to have a Jordan Wood type of build.

I personally think wrestling will be his best opportunity in the long run. In football, Blake Hartman arrives this fall too. He just won every award imaginable for a RB in West Virginia including POY. 197# is wide open if he really wants it.

Just my opinion.

[gimpeltf]

Here is my problem:

Gone are the days of separate fall, winter and spring seasons. Lehigh may have a handful of matches already in by the Lehigh-Lafayette game. Then there is the weight adjustment from football to wrestling and almost no training, final exams etc. I suspect Gaige will not make his debut until the tournaments over the break and he may not reach expectations even then.

I also suspect that his scholarship is coming via football so as of now, that is probably the top priority. That however can switch as time goes on. I assume Gaige has the full 4 years of eligibility left.

I believe situations where there are multiple sports involved scholarship-wise they do count against football regardless and would then count as a full (although that might be in the top football division only). That way they can't recruit kids for football by placing them on another sport. I'm not sure if it also counts for wrestling (as a partial) since a school could do the same for that sport as outlined above.

[TMH]

At Michigan, Gaige's scholarship was reportedly through wrestling.

[gimpeltf]

Rules for multi-sport athletes
The NCAA also has rules specifying the sport in which multi-sport athletes are to be counted, with the basic rules being:[54]

Anyone who participates in football is counted in that sport, even if he does not receive financial aid from the football program. An exception exists for players at non-scholarship FCS programs who receive aid in another sport.[55]
Participants in basketball are counted in that sport, unless they also play football.
Participants in men's ice hockey are counted in that sport, unless they also play football or basketball.
Participants in both men's swimming and diving and men's water polo are counted in swimming and diving, unless they count in football or basketball.
Participants in women's (indoor) volleyball are counted in that sport unless they also play basketball.
All other multi-sport athletes are counted in whichever sport the school chooses.

[jdalu75]

Makes me wonder how many basketball players also play water polo.

[jdalu75]

Just wondering where you found his playing weight at 230#. Michigan had him listed at 205# for football last year.
He is only 5-10 and doesn't seem to have a Jordan Wood type of build.

I personally think wrestling will be his best opportunity in the long run. In football, Blake Hartman arrives this fall too. He just won every award imaginable for a RB in West Virginia including POY. 197# is wide open if he really wants it.

Just my opinion.

I was thinking the same thing. All the football video on his twitter feed show him and his brother as the shortest guys on the field (and the fastest and most agile). Not exactly the picture of an NCAA DI wrestling HWT.

Gotta believe there's a big difference between b1g FB and Patriot League FB. Michigan had 12 running backs on their roster last season and recruited two of the top guys in the country for 2022. Maybe Gaige wants to be a two-sport athlete who actually plays both sports.