[CardinalSagehen]

They always have the right, but with rights come responsibilities, and consequences. Right now there are no consequences for abdicating their responsibilities as part of their scholarship agreement (a contract). I'm not suggesting they be compelled to play if they are healthy, just that there should be consequences for breaching a contract.

I disagree with you in principle on this, but I also think your proposed solution of applying penalties would be impractical. The scholarship agreement may be a sort of contract, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t provide for damages beyond taking away the scholarship. And this would be pointless because the player is leaving anyway. Nobody skips a bowl game while healthy and planning to be around another year.  

Just like an at-will employee, the player can choose to leave at any time or be kicked off the team and have his scholarship terminated at any time. This is similar to an employee leaving a job, not to a contractor leaving before the final touches are completed on your home improvement project.

[CardinalSagehen]

They always have the right, but with rights come responsibilities, and consequences. Right now there are no consequences for abdicating their responsibilities as part of their scholarship agreement (a contract). I'm not suggesting they be compelled to play if they are healthy, just that there should be consequences for breaching a contract.

I disagree with you in principle on this, but I also think your proposed solution of applying penalties would be impractical. The scholarship agreement may be a sort of contract, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t provide for damages beyond taking away the scholarship. And this would be pointless because the player is leaving anyway. Nobody skips a bowl game while healthy and planning to be around another year.  

Just like an at-will employee, the player can choose to leave at any time or be kicked off the team and have his scholarship terminated at any time. This is similar to an employee leaving a job, not to a contractor leaving before the final touches are completed on your home improvement project.