On Sundays in the offseason, Illinois beat writer Scott Richey provides a page full of news and analysis. Want more? Richey chats at 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays at IlliniHQ.com.
From the beat writer's desk
CHAMPAIGN — Five to play four.
That’s the deal college athletes receive. They are afforded a redshirt season, a fifth year to play a full four-year career.
It’s when injuries enter the picture and teams and players are trying to extend the clock — six to play four, if you will — where it gets tricky.
One redshirt season necessitated by injury that doesn’t rob the student-athlete of a full season requires a conference-approved medical hardship waiver.