I have a hard time understanding all of this. Was his acceptance at Duke in the first place conditional on him playing football? While a 3.75 may be “on the low end” for Duke, it seems to me hardly grounds for academic dismissal.
Was he on a full ride scholarship? Perhaps they rejected his application for a continued football scholarship which if he can’t play football, I could understand. If however him and his family were paying tuition, it seems strange that they wouldn’t let him return to an academic career at Duke.
If someone understands this better than I do please let me know.
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.