NCAA considering massive change to eligibility ruling for all sports

In light of recent legal decisions that have ostensibly granted junior college athletes an additional season of collegiate eligibility in 2025, the NCAA is reportedly considering wholesale changes to their eligibility requirements.

According to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, the NCAA is weighing whether or not to add an additional year of eligibility to the current four-year limit for all players across all NCAA sports. The topic is expected to be discussed early this year.

The NCAA currently grants student-athletes a five-year clock that effecitively provides five years to play four seasons, affording an additional redshirt year for those that qualify. The five-year clock currently starts when athletes enroll as full-time students.

This change could simply just remove the additional redshirt year and allow athletes five full seasons to participate in collegiate athletics, or provide athletes a six-year window to play five seasons.

NCAA makes major eligibility rule change for 2025-2026 season

A waiver by the NCAA Division I Board of Directors was granted in mid-December, allowing a set of players to remain eligible for the 2025-2026 season. They must have competed at a non-NCAA school throughout their career while also previously being out of eligibility. Now, the NCAA says they can return for one more year.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is the most high-profile recipient of this waiver, after a Tennessee district court judge granting him a preliminary injunction against the NCAA enforcing eligibility restrictions for seasons spent at the junior college level.

But now, it applies to athletes across every NCAA sport.

“NEWS: The NCAA Division I Board of Directors has granted a waiver to permit athletes who attended and competed at a non-NCAA school for 1 or more years to remain eligible and compete in 2025-26 if those athletes would have otherwise used their final season of competition during the 2024-25 academic year, and meet all other eligibility requirements (e.g., progress toward degree, five-year period of eligibility),” Darren Heitner said via X.

At the same time, the NCAA has filed a notice of appeal regarding the case involving Pavia. Waivers will be handed out for this specific year but the NCAA appealing the ruling could prevent this from becoming an annual occurrence in college athletics.

“The NCAA has also filed a notice of appeal of the court’s ruling in the Diego Pavia case,” Heitner said.

Pavia transferred to Vanderbilt this season, originally thought to be his final year of eligibility. He spent at the New Mexico Military Institute and another two at New Mexico State. A fifth year was granted due to COVID-19 in 2020, allowing Pavia to play for the Commodores.

Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.