To the posters that have a problem with taking away Rob's extra year....
What would the school have to do for Rob to satisfy using his scholarship on a mega talent? Would it be enough that (since Rob has already graduated) they give him his entire master's for free? Typically a master's can be earned in 1.5-2.5 years. If Rob kept his 'ship, he'd only be eligible to ge that first year for free.
What if the school continued providing him with tutors and the same services that student-athletes are entitled to? Would that be enough?
I suspect without knowing that there's some NCAA prohibition against taking away a player's scholarship and then providing him with exactly the same monetary and other benefits but calling it something else. Otherwise schools would have an unlimited number of scholarships available.
Or is Rob's 'ship completely off limits because of his learning disabilities? If that's the case, what if he gained 100 pounds and was completely usless. Would you still want to keep it off limits?
If you need someone to explain to you what is special about Rob Thomas, then you will never understand.
There's no player who's good enough to make a difference who's going to be happy with RT's five minutes per game. So not only are you throwing Thomas under the bus, you're throwing a second senior under the bus, ie, Brownlee or whoever gets there minutes cut.
Do we really need another SF?
If Barry wants SJ so bad, maybe he should take out a student loan for one year and walk on and then he can get a ride next year, when we have 9 to fill. If he's going to the NBA he'll have no problem paying it back.