USC to offer 4-year scholarships

I saw this in the O today: LINK

This is very interesting...  and if this catches on, it could hopefully slow down the student-athlete transfer madness.  The article mentions "revenue sports", which I assume to mean only football and men's basketball at this point.  

This will force coaches to recruit more effectively, knowing they will not be able to push student-athletes off the bench by not renewing a scholarship.  I have not thought about the further implications...  Will this catch on elsewhere?  

I wonder if schools who offer a 4-year scholarship would be any less inclined to release a player that may want to transfer?  Is the agreement binding to both parties?

The four year scholarship has been a staple of UP athletics for a number of years, but it has always been implied, not put in writing.  A good example recently has been the women's basketball team where at least two student-athletes really never played due to injuries, yet have or will have, a four-year degree from UP.

I believe the written four year scholarship would have to be a one-way deal, but that a university could put a number of restrictions on a student-athlete as to where they transfers if the student-athlete wanted to opt out.  I doubt it would be good for either side, especially in basketball, to have one or two players pouting on the sideline and not giving 100% because they want to be somewhere else.

The other issues are whether the player signs a letter of intent and follows those rules, and what other factors are tacked on with the scholarship. The NCAA manual says the letter is optional, at least in theory .  

The letter of intent is still only for one year, according To http://www.nationalletter.org , the website that informs us about this stuff. It still needs to be renewed each year at the school's discretion. A student has to opt out to cancel the next year.

Whether the school's promise of a four year scholarship is contingent on whether a student plays or not would depend on the wording of the offer.

And the wording of the national letter says that any commitments are void if the student doesn't attend school for a year.

Another thing we don't know if these scholarships still count towards the scholarship limit if a player doesn't play or a coach decides to cut a player.

It looks like the NCAA manual will get thicker, not thinner.