Yep what Stinenavy said, in D3 they are eligible right away, put practice minutes in for them based on there position and potential and GPA. In D1/D2 they sit out a year and don't progress skills during the season, don't practice with the team, all minutes in study hall, they will progress during the off-season based on their work ethic. Sophomore season is back to normal. They make a decision on if they want to come back for a fifth year based on playing time and the like. I've not seen an ineligible not come back for a fifth season, fourth one playing games/practicing. The SAT email doesn't mean anything other then based on their GPA they need a certain SAT score to become eligible, some kids will become eligible during the recruiting process by getting the test score they need. Off-course with ineligibles they go juco and not show up to campus, I've seen estimates in the forums of 20%-40% they don't show up. People tend to be scared of ineligible players at D1 and a bit of D2 and some steals can be had. They're paticularly great with a defense like the zone where less depth is needed each year, and you could also redshirt someone else if you wanted too.