A Dec. 23 NCAA decision granting junior college players an extra year of eligibility has thrown the transfer portal era into further confusion.
The decision follows the NCAA Division I Board of Directors’ approval of a blanket waiver granting an extra year of eligibility to junior college transfers like Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who successfully sued the NCAA.
Though Pavia won his case in a Tennessee federal court, the NCAA is appealing, according to ESPN, and the decision affects only a small number of athletes, causing confusion and concern among coaches and athletes.
“It’s still going back to the courts, so right now the rule only affects people whose 2024 fall season was their last season of fall eligibility,” College of DuPage head coach Matthew Rahn told Prairie State Pigskin.
Joshua Caraway, Western Illinois’ recruiting coordinator and assistant coach and a former high school English teacher, used a metaphor to summarize it.
“It is the Wild West for sure,” he said. “It’s unbelievable right now.”
How we got here
The NCAA decision allows collegiate athletes in all sports to extend their eligibility for an additional year.
According to reports, the NCAA granted an additional year of eligibility in 2025-26 to athletes who had previously “competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years” and would have otherwise exhausted their NCAA eligibility after the 2024-25 season.
Pavia, a former junior college transfer who played for FBS New Mexico State in 2022 and 2023 before transferring to Vanderbilt in 2024, is looking for another year of collegiate eligibility next fall.
His case contended that the organization’s policy of counting a player’s junior college years against overall NCAA eligibility violates antitrust laws by limiting an athlete’s ability to profit from his or her name, image, and likeness.
Where do we go from here?
As with so many aspects of collegiate athletics today, the decision will be made in judicial courts before it is implemented on the actual playing courts and fields.
“There are many branches to it,” Rahn explained. “My worry is that the people who are making the decisions on it are only looking at it from one side.”
Under NCAA rules, athletes typically have five years to compete in four seasons.
Last week, CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported that the NCAA is considering a five-year eligibility period for players across all sports.
“The topic will continue to be discussed in early 2025,” Rothstein wrote.
Caraway, WIU’s recruiting coordinator, is very familiar with both the Pavia and NCAA rulings.
“I want the guys to succeed.” That is exactly what college football is about. “You want to provide opportunities for these young men,” Caraway explained. “Yes, they are coming here to play football and get an education.
At the same time, you will learn about life. You learn how to deal with adversity, which is why I enjoy being a football coach so much.
“So, am I mad that we’re giving student-athletes another year to participate in these life-changing programs? “Not at all.”
However, Caraway stated that the original intention of college football was not “to have 24-, 25-, or 26-year-olds enrolling with 18-year-olds.”
Rahn’s COD teams have won four consecutive NJCAA Division III championships. Over the years, the program has sent players to all four Illinois FCS schools, with recent seasons seeing players attend WIU and Eastern Illinois.
“At the end of the day, how many full-time semesters are these kids going to be allowed to have before colleges say, ‘Hey, no more school or no more eligibility for you,'” said the instructor. “Currently, it’s ten full-time semesters unless you get waivers. It’s extremely convoluted.
“I am glad I am not involved in the decision-making process. I’m not sure if I would get it right. I’m not sure what the answer is, but it’ll be interesting to see what they do.
What does this mean for prep recruits?
“Edgy” Tim O’Halloran has covered Illinois high school recruiting since the mid-1990s, appearing in print and online, as well as providing radio and television coverage.
The transfer portal has already had a significant impact on the state’s high school recruiting efforts.
“You’re seeing it,” he explained. “I can tell right now it’s going to be considerably fewer numbers overall that are signed out of high school.”
It’s a trend that has spread across all levels, as O’Halloran observed in this week’s NCAA Division III championship game between Naperville’s North Central College and Mount Union.
“I saw some FCS-level talent playing the D-III championship game,” O’Halloran told reporters. “I think you’ll see more and more of that. Kids with genuine talent who, due to a lack of (scholarship) opportunities and other factors, will be forced to attend lower-level schools.
“Is this a good thing? Bad thing? I’m not sure, but it’s a whole lot different than it was five, six, and seven years ago.
If the Pavia decision is expanded, it will most likely reduce the number of scholarships available to high school athletes, according to O’Halloran.
Junior colleges would undoubtedly become more appealing to high school recruits in that scenario.
“We make our success here in finding the under-recruited kids from high school,” Rahn told me. “We don’t really look for bounce-back (players), guys who were at other places and had to leave, like other jucos do.
We identify students who we believe are only a year or two away from receiving higher-level scholarships. We develop them, and hopefully they will go on to four-year schools.
Illinois once had several junior colleges that fielded football teams. Today, College of DuPage is the only one left in the state.
“I’ve talked to some juco people I know in the state and it’s not like there’s a huge surge to restart football here,” according to O’Halloran. “That’s not going to happen, at least not right now. In some cases, these programs have been shut down for more than 20 years.
“I would like to see junior college football resurgence in our state. I wish it would, but it won’t.
Rahn notes that if the courts rule that junior college years do not count as years of eligibility, other juco programs are likely to follow the COD model of development.
“It might also show a lot of kids that while you might not be a Division I athlete right out of high school, in a few years you might be and it won’t cost you your eligibility,” he told me.
WIU’s Caraway calls the current situation “a little bit of cognitive dissonance.”
“You have a system now where you do have guys who are no longer fresh out of high school playing their fifth, sixth or sometimes even their seventh year of college football,” he told me.
“It’s definitely taking up more roster spots that would otherwise be reserved for high school players. “That’s one of the most affected groups.”
Caraway sees the transfer portal as neither good nor bad, but rather as a tool.
“For a long time now it was the goal of a high school senior to get that scholarship,” he told me. “That goal is still there, but now you have to compete yearly with 2,000 FBS players and another 1,000 FCS players in the portal. There just aren’t enough scholarships and seats for all of these guys.”
While still considering the options, Caraway stated, “The Pavia waiver does not always provide junior college players with extra years.”
After meeting with WIU’s compliance officer, Caraway stated that athletes who want to use the Pavia waiver must also meet other eligibility requirements.
“Essentially, you must make progress toward a degree while also meeting the five-year clock. “This is what the waiver is for,” he explained.
“Do I think more (high school) kids will go to juco right now? No. I don’t think it will spark a mass movement just yet because there is no blanket statement stating that your junior college years do not count.
I believe the goal would still be to attend a four-year NCAA institution right out of high school and have your education paid for with a scholarship.
“But if they do make a change where the junior college years don’t count, there will 100 percent be a shift in high school recruits (choosing that path),” he told me.
“Why not use those two years to gain experience, get into the weight room, and do some training? And maybe in two years, you’ll look like a much better prospect to these four-year institutions than you did right out of high school.”
Final word
As it stands, reality and perception are very different.
“We’re trying to find out what the rule is like everyone else is right now,” Rahn said in response. “There is a lot of misinformation out there. Many people are interpreting it in their own way and then telling everyone that’s just how it is.”
Decisions from the NCAA and courts would be appreciated sooner rather than later.
“I hope the decision makers figure this out soon so that there’s some clarity to it,” Rahn told the crowd.
This cannot come soon enough for all parties.
“There’s not a lot of oversight right now,” Caraway said. “I don’t think it’s the fault of anyone in particular, but they (NCAA officials) are still figuring out how to implement the Pavia waiver almost every day, so we’re waiting for that legislation to be released. That’s all fine, but school starts in a few days.
“In layman’s terms, it could turn into a real free-for-all for student-athletes who might not have the correct information about what this waiver actually is.”
