I-A transfers to make big impact

Nathan Chiantella / photo editor Former Cardinal Justin Rascati works on his release. Rascati will compete with incumbent, three-year starter Matt LeZotte to start at quarterback in 2004.

In the world of Division I-AA football, coaches have the luxury of exploring a viable option for adding talent that their I-A counterparts cannot.

That option is the transfer.

NCAA rules state that if a player transfers between schools at the I-A level, they must sit out a year before playing, thus losing one season of eligibility. However, if a I-A player transfers to a I-AA program, they may play immediately without losing a year.

"I visited a lot of I-AA programs and didn’t want to sit out a year," red-shirt sophomore and transfer quarterback Justin Rascati said. "The coaches are great and there is an explosive offense here, and that’s the kind of offense I want to lead."

JMU coach Mickey Matthews has taken advantage of the I-A transfer in his six-year tenure in Harrisonburg. Recently, they have taken the form of running back Curtis Keaton (now playing for the New York Giants) and defensive end Jerame Southern, who graduated last year.

But Matthews isn’t the first coach to take advantage of I-A refugees. Before him, coach Rip Scherer (1991-’94) recruited quarterback Mike Cawley (1993-’95) from Syracuse University.

Cawley went on to lead the Dukes to consecutive playoff appearances in 1994-’95 and finished his career as JMU’s leader in passing yards (6,482), touchdown passes (42), completions (479) and pass attempts (863). He was later taken in the sixth round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts.

"I-A programs are more than happy to have you take their recruiting mistakes," Matthews said. "We try to investigate the transfer’s individual situation."

This season, Matthews has added three transfers: Rascati from the University of Louisville, red-shirt senior wide-receiver Khary Sharpe from Duke University and red-shirt freshman linebacker Mike Brown from Virginia Tech.

Of the three, Rascati has made the most noise, going as far as challenging incumbent red-shirt senior Matt LeZotte for the quarterback position.

"The starting quarterback job is open," Matthews said. "They alternate between running first and second team in practice."

Last year at Louisville, the 6-foot-2-inch, 220-lb. Rascati completed 14 or 24 pass attempts for 177 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in five games behind starting quarterback senior Stefan LaFors.

Sharpe will add more depth to the already deep JMU receiving corps. The 5-foot-11-inch, 175-lb. receiver joins red-shirt juniors Nic Tolley and Tahir Hinds as the ranking members at wide-out.

Sharpe transferred from Duke for two major reasons.

"I went to Duke with a goal of getting a degree," Sharpe said. "When I obtained it, I wanted to see different things and I had opportunity to go to graduate school [at JMU] and experience different atmospheres. It was time for Durham, N.C. and me to part ways."

Brown’s final five choices out of his high school, where he was a Top 50 Player in the state of Florida, were Virginia Tech, the University of Michigan, Boston College, the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 220-lb. linebacker only just started practicing last week after waiting for his transcripts to arrive from Blacksburg.

Coming from big-time I-A programs to a I-AA program, some would expect to see a drop in talent and quality of play. But the transfers say there is no such trend.

"I didn’t expect it to be any different," Rascati said. "I knew the talent was going to be good, but not this good."

One glaring divider between the programs of I-A and I-AA is the depth of those teams. I-A programs are given 85 scholarships by the NCAA, whereas I-AA programs only have 65 for distribution purposes.

"There is definitely a difference in depth," Sharpe said. "But on this team, I was surprised. If someone on the first team goes down, someone on the second team can go right in and make things happen.

"I can’t see a difference between I-A and I-AA."

But players did notice one difference is that I-AA programs simply lack the funds to compete with the 100,000-plus seat stadiums belonging to the University of Tennessee and the University of Michigan.

"It’s not that big a difference from D-I," Rascati said, "except there is a lot more money there with the crowds and big stadiums. but other than that I knew [the talent] would be good, but not this good."

Last year, Atlantic 10 rival University of Delaware won a I-AA national championship on the strength of transfers such as now departed quarterback Andy Hall.

This season, JMU will look to duplicate the Blue Hens’ success in their quest for a playoff berth for the first time in nearly six years.