I found this article on a blog from the Raleigh News Observer that implies that he is on a scholarship. The article states that Holliday had received scholarship offers from other schools, though the article doesn’t flat out state that he was offered a scholarship from Duke.
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/california-wr-commits-to-duke#storylink=misearch
I assume that Duke’s decision was due to money. They do not want to pay for a scholarship for the rest of the young man’s college career if he cannot play football for them.
Not sure how Duke does it, but at least some schools will continue the scholarship (as non-athletic) if a recruit suffers a non-sports injury that renders the student unable to compete.
Thanks so much. That makes sense to me. While it may be an unpopular decision, I can understand it. I imagine that schools only have so much scholarship money available, but maybe I’m wrong about that.