With the new NCAA rules, players now have 5 years (after their 19th birthday or when they enroll in college, whichever is first) to complete 5 seasons of eligibility! With that, every single player is impacted, but as we saw players come in via the portal this year, we discussed a ton of guys with just 1 year of eligibility remaining (i.e. seniors). Those guys now have 2 years left for the most part.
Let’s dive in and break down the impacts to Xavier, Cincinnati, NKU, Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio State, Wright State, Miami, and Dayton’s rosters. We will show you who got an upgrade from 1 year remaining to 2 years remaining with yesterday’s change, and who may not get that upgrade:
*As this is an ever evolving situation with a high volume of legal involvement, these distinctions could change, but for now, this is how things stand the way the rules are written*
“Two years of eligibility remaining” Means the 2026-27 and 2027-28 season just to make sure we are all on the same page.
Xavier Musketeers:
Mike Nwoko (LSU transfer): Mike will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Tru Washington (Miami (Fl) Transfer): Tru will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Nikolaos Chitikoudis (RMU Transfer): Nikolaos will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Of note, Kason Westphal will not have an additional year of eligibility as he redshirted last year, giving him 4 years remaining.
Cincinnati Bearcats:
Myles Colvin (Wake Forest transfer): Colvin will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Riley Allenspach (George Mason transfer): Riley will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Deshaun Vaden (Mount Union transfer): Deshaun will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Northern Kentucky Norse:
Eric Acker (La Salle Transfer): Eric will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Noah Pagotto (East Texas A&M Transfer): Noah will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Ethan Elliott: My understanding of the rules is that Ethan will have an additional year, but I have requested clarification. For now, we will tentatively expect him to now have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Gabrielius Jokubauskas (Lithuania): Gabrielius played 3 years at Rytas Vinius before coming to Highland Heights this summer. I expect him to have 2 years remaining, but the same as Ethan, I will confirm and issue an update as we learn more!
Of note, JJ Apathjang and Juanma Ruiz will not have additional eligibility as they redshirted last year giving them 4 years remaining.
An NKU Spokesperson has confirmed that their understanding is this is correct.
Miami RedHawks:
Evan Ipsaro: Evan will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Rich Rolf (YSU Transfer): Will NOT have additional eligibility as he had redshirted previously and is a RS Senior this year.
Jackson Kotecki: Jackson will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Blake Anderson: Blake will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Of Note, Leshawn Stowers will not have an additional year as he redshirted last year, giving him 4 years remaining.
Kentucky
Milan Momcilovic (Iowa State Transfer): Milan will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Franck Kepnang (Washington Transfer): This will be Franck’s 7th NCAA season and his final one.
Justin McBride (JMU Transfer): Justin will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Jerone Morton (Washington State Transfer): Jerone will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Ousmane N’diaye (Senegal): He would have at most, 2 years of eligibility, but we will await a final decision from the NCAA once it is made available.
Of note, Braydon Hawthorne will not have additional eligibility as he redshirted last year, giving him 4 years left.
Louisville
Jackson Shelstad (Oregon Transfer): Jackson will have 2 years of eligibility remaining,
London Johnson (G-League): London came from the G-League where he played 3 years, per CBS at the time of his commitment, he had 2 years of eligibility remaining. After taking the redshirt last year, he will have 2 years of eligibility.
Alvaro Folgueiras (Iowa Transfer): Alvaro will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
De’Shayne Montgomery (Dayton Transfer): De’Shayne will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Gabe Dynes (USC Transfer): Gabe will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Ohio State
Jimmie Williams (Juco Transfer – Wallace State Community College): Jimmie will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Josh Ojianwuna (Baylor transfer): Josh has used a redshirt year, meaning this will be his final year.
Indiana
Justin Monden (MD Eastern Shore Transfer): Justin will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Jordan Rayford: Redshirt senior this year, and will be his final year.
Ian Stephens: Ian will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Of note, Markus Burton and Bryce Lindsay are both redshirt Jr.’s this year, meaning they have 2 years left, but will not get an extension.
Wright State
Nikola Djapa (Colorado State Transfer): Nikola will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Ilija Milijasevic (DePaul Transfer): Ilija was listed as a junior last season at Depaul. We will await a final ruling, but I believe he will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
PJ Douglas, Isaiah Williams have both used a redshirt year, meaning they will not have extended eligibility.
Dayton
Evan Dickey: Evan will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Makai Grant: Makai will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Will Maxwell: Will will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Jalen Haynes (Transfer from Cincinnati): Jalen is a grad student this year and this will be his final year of eligibility.
Of note, Malcolm Thomas, Jaiun Simon, and Tristan Ford will not have additional eligibility as they have utilized a redshirt year.
Breaking Down What to Expect:
This article was to serve as a quick reference of how the new rules impacted the players who were expected to be in their final year of eligibility this season. I did not list the entire rosters for each team, but focused on those guys who are going to benefit the most from the change. There are a handful of players who are transferring up to tougher competition this season on this list, and that takes time to get used to. Having 2 years instead of 1 is invaluable for their growth, development, and impact at their new level.
If I’m looking ahead at other litigation (as everyone like to sue the NCAA these days), I think the guys who have previously redshirted will potentially be lining up to try and get an additional year, but I’m not sure if that will actually happen. Hopefully, after that, we will see an end to the relentless lawsuits that we’ve seen increasing over the last several years. I know I’m sick of dealing with them!
This tweet from Joshua Caraway breaks the eligibility situations down extremely well and it’s worth a look if you’re confused like I was to start all of this!