This is buried in the Warren eligibility thread but figured it deserved its own for random passers by.
TL;DR:
Who is currently eligible? (At 2:38 PM on August 12)
Anyone who was granted eligibility last year who has eligibility remaining, and anyone incoming who is eligible under the new age-based eligibility requirements.
What's not clear?
The recruiting class of 2022 - The NCAA didn't, and recently reaffirmed it's stance not to, retroactively give this class a fifth year of eligibility. But several groups of players in this class have filed lawsuits all over the country to get that year back. Because of an injunction in Colorado in one of those cases, ALL OF THESE PLAYERS, whether they filed individual lawsuits or not, are currently eligible. The potential eligibility for those players breaks down into several groups, with some overlap.
TL;DR:
Who is currently eligible? (At 2:38 PM on August 12)
- Anyone who was granted eligibility last year who has eligibility remaining, even if they would otherwise be ineligible under the new rules (NCAA)
- Anyone incoming who is eligible under the new age-based eligibility requirements. (NCAA)
- Any member of the high school class of 2022 (Colorado case)
- We do not know what the NCAA is going to rule on Bryson Warren
- Rylan Griffin could potentially return to the team
- We could potentially sign a player from another school, but there are some additional hurdles before that player would definitely be eligible to play for us
Anyone who was granted eligibility last year who has eligibility remaining, and anyone incoming who is eligible under the new age-based eligibility requirements.
What's not clear?
The recruiting class of 2022 - The NCAA didn't, and recently reaffirmed it's stance not to, retroactively give this class a fifth year of eligibility. But several groups of players in this class have filed lawsuits all over the country to get that year back. Because of an injunction in Colorado in one of those cases, ALL OF THESE PLAYERS, whether they filed individual lawsuits or not, are currently eligible. The potential eligibility for those players breaks down into several groups, with some overlap.
- Players who entered the transfer portal after the season, just in case this happened, or players who are trying to return to the school they left: If the injunction holds, or a court orders this group is eligible, then these players are going to be immediately eligible and in the clear. (For us, this exclusively applies to Rylan Griffin. It would have potentially applied to Jacari Lane, but he's entering the transfer portal)
- Players who didn't, but want to transfer now: (Ex: Seth Trimble, Chendall Weaver, Jacari Lane): Even if the injunction holds, the NCAA says these players will not be eligible because they didn't enter the transfer portal in the spring. It seems exceedingly unlikely that the NCAA would be able to hold that line successfully, but that would be an additional round of legal wrangling.
- Players whose names are listed in the lawsuits: This is a subgroup that contains members of the first two groups. If the Colorado injunction that applies to this entire class of players doesn't hold, but individual lawsuits do, then these players may be eligible while others aren't. As a result, a lot of players are scrambling to add themselves as plaintiffs in these lawsuits.
- Who never played college basketball *A&M related*: For the most part these players are going to be eligible like Nnaji from Baylor was last year, but it is not clear what the NCAA is going to do with what's known as an "Exhibit 10" contract with an NBA team. These are one-year minimum contracts that are not guaranteed. They are basically a way for NBA teams to attract players to play in the summer league. Players can earn money on an E10 contract, and then can either make the NBA roster, G league roster, or be waived at the end of the summer. Bryson Warren had an E10 contract with the Knicks and the Heat, but never made either team's NBA roster. A decision here is going to matter for several other players as well. Dink Pate (Providence) is in a similar situation to Warren. It will also matter for some of the class of '22 players who played in the NBA summer league this summer like Seth Trimble.
- Who previously played college basketball: This is one we know. The NCAA has consistently ruled (and actually won these cases!) that anyone who previously had NCAA eligibility, and then forfeited that eligibility, cannot return to college basketball, even if they never appeared in an NBA game.
