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Well the other interesting aspect of this is that I find nowhere in the NCAA regulations any stipulation that a medical hardship waiver be tacked on to the regular clock. Rather, it reads as a formal process that resets the clock - within the 5 year window for four years of playing eligibility. Not doubting the answer - I just don't find proof anywhere.
So maybe I'm missing something. What I'm not missing though is that Mauk's case was real chalk and cheese versus Clifford's (which seems pretty straighforward). And it makes for a little interesting reading.
Mauk redshirted at Wake Forest in '03. He was eligible in '04, '05 and '06 - playing in 17 games in 04 and 05, but only one fateful contest against Syracuse in 06 (their opening game) - after which he underwent extensive surgery on his broken arm and missed the remainder of the season.
Mauk then transfers to UC - as a graduate student, taking advantage of a rule that has now been rescinded, and is thus able to play, immediately - no missing a year of competition, one more year within the standard 5-year window. Only then does an application take place to support a medical hardship waiver? Seems odd to me that the process works backwards. But the most striking part is that Mauk was able to take a redshirt early - and it was on that basis that his appeal for a Medical Waiver was shot down. Because of ByLaw 30.6.1.2 (redshirt is under control of student / institution - not a missed playing opportunity) - not because of the provisions of ByLaw 14.2 - under which NCAA places the Hardship waiver.
So with one player you have the normal use of the redshirt. The application of immediate play after transfer for graduate student players (since when said rule was scrubbed). Then the application for a medical hardship waiver - refused, not because the NCAA doesn't agree that Mauk was broken up in game 1 of 2006, no it all happens because he took that redshirt while unharmed and healthy in year one.
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