Oversigning (also spelled over-signing) is an unofficial term for the practice of American college athletic departments signing prospective student-athletes to a National Letter of Intent (NLI) that may exceed the maximum number of athletic scholarships permitted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The NCAA limits the total number of scholarships that may be awarded in all of its sponsored sports, and in football also limits the number of scholarships awarded in a given year. Those limits differ by sport and the division in which that school participates. Most conferences have additional rules governing signing NLI.
NCAA Bylaw 15.5.6.1 limits FBS football programs to a total number of scholarships to 85 "counters" annually including 25 scholarships for "initial counters." Counters (NCAA Bylaw 15.02.3) are individuals who are receiving institutional financial aid that is countable against the aid limitations in a sport, initial counters (NCAA Bylaw 15.02.3.1) are individuals who are receiving countable financial aid in a sport for the first time. Bylaw 13.9.2.3 limits schools to signing 28 NLI from initial signing day through May 31.
Oversigning can occur in two ways. First, if a school signs a number of NLI that may bring their total number of counters above the NCAA limit of 85. Second would be to sign more than 25 NLI during the period between National Signing Day and May 31.
Oversigning occurs in other sports but has received the most attention from media members and fans, in regard to Division I FBS college football.
NCAA rules permit oversigning up to 28 NLI, though some college football fans view oversigning as unethical, arguing that it requires schools and coaches to be dishonest with young adult and adolescent recruits by promising them a roster spot and scholarship only to pull it before the person graduates or even makes the team.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Miami
In a December 2010 feature on oversigning, ESPN's Outside the Lines profiled former University of Miami defensive lineman Stephen Wesley, who was told - in July 2010, just weeks before his senior season was to begin - that his scholarship would not be renewed. Miami and then-head coach Randy Shannon did not give an explanation for Wesley's dismissal from the team, but many believed (as Outside the Lines noted) Wesley was cut from the team to make room for Seantrel Henderson, who announced he would attend Miami just weeks before Wesley's dismissal.
Big East Conference
In the 2011 offseason, the University of Louisville men's basketball team found itself with a roster of 18 players—five more than the NCAA limit of 13 scholarship players for that sport. In the 2010–11 season, the Cardinals had a 15-man roster, but two of these players were walk-ons, placing them within NCAA limits. Three scholarship players departed after the season, but coach Rick Pitino had initially signed a four-player freshman class, resulting in 14 scholarship players plus the two returning walk-ons. Then, coaching changes gave Pitino the opportunity to add a fifth freshman, former Tennessee commit Kevin Ware, and a future upperclass contributor, George Mason transfer Luke Hancock. These signings gave the Cardinals 16 scholarship players.
The situation was resolved when three returning scholarship players agreed to become walk-ons for the 2011–12 season. All had originally come to Louisville as walk-ons, but had earned scholarships. What made this situation especially unusual is that two of the three were seniors who were expected to start in the coming season. One of the senior walk-ons, Kyle Kuric, was the Cardinals' only returning double-figure scorer. The other senior walk-on, Chris Smith, was the Cardinals' third-leading returning scorer. Both were financially able to absorb being walk-ons—Kuric's parents are a neurosurgeon and a nurse practitioner, and Smith is the younger brother of NBA player J. R. Smith, who had paid his brother's way at U of L when he had to sit out the 2009–10 season as a transfer.