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Dec. 26—Eastern Washington’s football team formally said goodbye to two dozen seniors in November, and earlier this month it said the same to more players who decided to enter the transfer portal.
But last week’s NCAA ruling, in regards to the case of a Vanderbilt quarterback, opened the door for a few of those seniors to come back to the Eagles next season, should they wish to do so.
It’s just the latest shifting of the sands of college football as athletes, coaches and compliance officers try to keep up.
“I think the idea behind the ruling is probably more impactful than the actual ruling,” EWU associate head coach Marc Anderson said on Thursday. “Further down the road … that becomes super intriguing.”
On Monday, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors announced it had granted athletes who competed at a “non-NCAA school for one or more years” another year of NCAA eligibility, so long as they would have otherwise used their final season of eligibility during the 2024-25 academic year.
The announcement stemmed from a lawsuit filed against the NCAA by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who claimed that seasons played at junior colleges should not count toward NCAA eligibility.
The waiver means a handful of Eastern Washington players — notably All-America all-purpose player Michael Wortham, starting tight end Austin York and starting center Jack Seelye — have been given another year of eligibility, if they want to use it next season. As of Thursday, they were still weighing their options of returning to Eastern, entering the transfer portal or moving on with their lives.
The decision is hardly automatic, though, Anderson said.
“The tough part right now is some of these guys have made other life plans,” Anderson said. “(They may have) come to terms with (playing) their last game.”
Wortham said Thursday he hadn’t been…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-ruling-junior-college-athletes-045900801.html
Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Publish date : 2024-12-27 04:59:00
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