walkons on top of your allotted 13 schollie players. Only returning GR players from within the program --like Barcello-- are allowed to go beyond the limit this season, as I understand it. A GR transfer from outside (that is, Tre'Jon Lucas) has to occupy one of the 13 scholarships this season.

And yet we still seem to have an extra player on roster, cuz Barcello would get us to 16, but I count 17 in this very recent picture (which includes all the new acquisitions that I know of, including Casey Brown, Jeremy Dowdell, Nate Hansen, Winitana, Atiki, & Trey Stewart)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSiM79CM6QY/

Dowdell, Winitana, & Brown are the announced walkons. I guess one of them isn't technically counting on the official roster. I don't know how that works exactly.

Lee could return & participate in practice if he wanted, but there's no way that he'd be entitled to NIL funding.

At least that I'm aware of. But maybe that's not the point you were making.

I think if he'd stayed he'd be getting set up for NIL funding right now. But even that I'm not entirely sure on. For all I know, perhaps Pope had grown tired of Kolby's complaints & asked him to move on. We only got Kolby's side of the story, & I tend to think that indicated he'd been asked to step down to walkon status.