Jarvis Varnado will be a walk-on this year

You heard that right.

The nation's leading shot-blocker will not be a scholarship player.

Right now, Mississippi State has 12 scholarship players eligible. Plus Renardo Sidney and John Riek. That equals 14, which is one more scholarship than the NCAA allows. And if you remember, Varnado entered the draft after last season but decided (correctly) to return to school, putting Rick Stansbury in a bind.

"We had discussed it with coach (Rick) Stansbury and he let us know that if Jarvis put his name in the draft, and he had a chance to get Renardo Sidney, we'll take out a loan so he can come back to school," Winston Varnado told Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.

That's one way to solve the problem of testing the waters.

On a side note, that is an extremely selfless act by Varnado. That's $5,151 out of his own pocket so that Sidney and Riek can play ... IF they get cleared.

Which is by no means a guarantee.

Jarvis Varnado will pay his own tuition as a walk-on at MSU this season.
(photo credit: Pike County Times)

The only time I can remember something like this happening is when Taylor Rochestie, a point guard who graduated from Washington State last season, paid his own tuition for a year to allow a teammate who couldn't afford to pay for school to take his scholarship.