August 12, 1999
The Aggie veterans of the 1998 Big 12 Football Championship squad were welcomed back to campus by Texas A&M Head Coach R.C. Slocum Thursday.
"We will have somewhere in the neighborhood of 103 players out for football at this time," Slocum said.
The group of veterans joined the freshmen players for dinner on Thursday at Cain Dining Hall.
One veteran player who was not present was placekicker Russell Bynum from LaMarque, Texas. Bynum was 16-of-20 last season in field goals with a long kick of 43 yards. He was 30-of-31 in extra points.
"Russell Bynum is not going to report because of a question about his eligibility," Slocum stated. "He is involved in an appeal process and we will wait until that is clarified."
Among the veteran players returning to campus was D'Andre Hardeman, a running back from Houston. Hardeman was declared ineligible last fall, but continued to work out with the team last fall and this past spring. He has worked to regain his eligibility for the 1999 season by attending both summer school sessions at Texas A&M.
"Due to graduation, our grade reports are not finalized for the second term of summer school," Slocum explained. "I know everyone is concerned about Tiki (Hardeman). We don't have anything on that, it will probably be the first part of next week before we know anything about that."
Slocum also announced Chad Frantzen, a senior from Diana, Texas, has been awarded a scholarship. Frantzen, who played at New Diana High School, started his Aggie career as a 12th Man kickoff team member and has worked his way into the two-deep lineup at linebacker and recorded 28 tackles last season.
The Aggies will use Friday for physicals and compliance meetings before hitting the practice field on Saturday for the first day of two-a-day workouts.