The rules around eligibility continue to be chipped away with another injunction being granted in the case of Tyon Grant-Foster yesterday. This case by case basis with injunctions is not a sustainable model. This case definitely tugs at your emotions as you gotta feel for the kid having a cardiac event and missing several years, but makes the rules even murkier.
17-18: High School Graduation Year
18-19: JUCO
19-20: JUCO
20-21: Played 20+ games for Kansas
21-22: Transfers to DePaul and has a scary cardiac event at half time of first game
22-23: Does not play due to navigating his medical situation
23-24: Plays at Grand Canyon and wins WAC Player of the Year
24-25: Plays at Grand Canyon and is first team all-WAC
25-26: Granted injunction to play at Gonzaga (this will be the 8th season post-HS)
To put it in perspective, he was in the high school graduating class of 2018. Gabbert and Finn (who seemed to really push the eligibility timeline due to COVID and injuries) were 2019.
Honestly I don’t really have a problem with JuCo years not counting and in this particular instance, considering that kid was literally dead on the floor and had to be resuscitated, him getting this extra year.
The bigger and I think unsolvable problem absent an antitrust exemption (which should not be given to the NCAA), is that eventually someone is going to sue over any eligibility limitations because they could make much more money playing their 7th (or 8th or 9th) year of college basketball than they could anywhere professionally. We may not be far from that happening…
The next chip: Puff Johnson (of UNC and Penn State) is suing for another year and claiming the limits on medical hardship are illegal. He has enrolled at Ohio State and wants to play this year. He played in 17 games last year due to injury and says he should get another year.
If no one mentioned it I will, I don’t feel like reading everything. Navarro isn’t asking for a 7th year to play at OU. Navarro wants a 7th year, to cash in as it will be the last money he will ever make playing football.
