All of the rumors about why Darrell Givens is back on the market seem to have been proven correct.
"It's just a matter of the paperwork now," said Lamb. "He's eligible according to the NCAA. I'm not really sure what happened at Penn State. I think there was a communications mix up. But the paperwork is supposed to be done shortly. Then you will see him at Rutgers."
As the Josh Barr article linked here Tuesday said, Givens retook an English course over the summer to meet PSU's core standards. Lamb didn't give the complete details in that Ledger article, but the consensus from every rumorhound is that Givens also needed to make up another, non-core course. PSU's academic support supposedly made a mistake, and forgot to tell Givens to take a second summer class. The transcript issue may also stem from transferring high schools two years ago.
ESPN's Nittany Network had previously reported that Givens had a 2.6 GPA, and planned to retake the SAT to improve his score. He's no Zuttah, but Givens was not turned away because he's another Nate Robinson either (i.e., because he only met NCAA standards by the skin of his teeth). He would hardly even have the worst academic profile in RU's 2009 signing class. Coach Lamb said that PSU sprung this on Givens at the last minute (it was probably a surprise to them too), and there were unconfirmed reports about Joe Paterno lobbying to enroll Givens last week. Rutgers was originally a finalist, but he's now eying the Knights because RU doesn't start practicing until next week, and hence has time to clear these issues up.
Anyway, it's getting closer to happening. My humble request to the local media; please connect all of these dots directly, if there's a chance before camp starts, and Givens or Lamb are feeling talkative. It would be nice to have something useful useful offhand for citation and reference. Athletic department leakers - you might want to get out ahead of this story too.