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How the proposed eligibility rules could have affected Michigan Basketball and Football
TL;DR
The NCAA is considering new eligibility rules allowing athletes a five-year competition window starting after their 19th birthday or high school graduation. If retroactive, Michigan Basketball's Roddy Gayle Jr. and several football players could have benefited from an extra year of eligibility.
Key points
- NCAA proposes five-year eligibility window for athletes
- Eligibility starts after 19th birthday or high school graduation
- Exceptions made for military service, religious missions, or pregnancy
- Roddy Gayle Jr. could have returned to Michigan Basketball
- Several Michigan Football players could have benefited from extra eligibility
Mentioned in this story
MarylandNebraskaOhio StateArkansas State
Michigan WolverinesRoddy Gayle Jr.Derrick MooreJaishawn Barham
- Athletes are allowed to compete for a five-year window.
- The five-year window starts at the beginning of the school year following the athlete’s 19th birthday or their high school graduation date, whichever comes first.
- Exceptions are made only for military service, religious missions or pregnancy. This effectively means the end of redshirting. While the NCAA has already announced the rule changes are not retroactive, we thought it would be a fun thought experiment to see how these new rules would have impacted the Michigan football and men’s basketball programs had they been retroactive. For the hoops team, there is only one player who doesn’t have the option return next season that would have under the proposed rules — Roddy Gayle Jr. He spent two years at Ohio State before playing his final two years in Ann Arbor for Dusty May and the Michigan Wolverines. He turned 19 in July 2022, meaning his high school graduation date preceded his 19th birthday. Under the new rules, he would have been eligible until the conclusion of the 2026-27 season. As for the football team, things are a little more tricky to quantify since the roster is larger and birthdays are not as publicly available. However, Michigan recently lost four starters due to lack of eligibility that would have otherwise had a fifth year to participate in. was a top-100 prospect out of high school originally from Baltimore, . He saw the field early and often during his four-year career at Michigan. Since he never redshirted, under the new rules, he could have come back for one more year. However, he seemed destined to go to the NFL regardless of if he had eligibility remaining or not. Both of Michigan’s starting linebackers in 2025 are in the same boat. and both transferred into the program but never took a year off. Barham was an early star at Maryland before being poached by the Wolverines. Similarly, Hausmann had an enticing freshman season at before coming to Michigan. Both would have been eligible to return next year under the new rules, and given the state of the linebacker room, I’m sure they both could have been useful. Last but not least, started all four years of college and never redshirted. He spent two seasons with Arkansas State before becoming a cult hero in Ann Arbor thanks to his performance in the 2024 Ohio State game. Zvada is off to the NFL as an undrafted free agent, but if he were eligible for another season, Michigan could have probably found some NIL money in the couch cushions to keep him in college for one more year. While I understand the NCAA’s hesitancy to make the new eligibility guidelines retroactive, it sure would have been fun to see the pure chaos it would have caused. A world where national champion Roddy Gayle Jr. gets to come back to Michigan sounds like a fun place to be.
Q&A
What are the proposed NCAA eligibility rule changes?
The proposed changes allow athletes to compete for five years starting from their 19th birthday or high school graduation, with exceptions for military service, religious missions, or pregnancy.
How would the new eligibility rules have affected Michigan Basketball?
Roddy Gayle Jr. would have been eligible to return for another season under the new rules, extending his time with the Michigan Wolverines.
Which Michigan Football players could have benefited from the new eligibility rules?
Several players, including Derrick Moore, Jaishawn Barham, and Ernest Hausmann, could have returned for an additional year due to the proposed changes.
Why are the NCAA's new eligibility rules not retroactive?
The NCAA has stated that the new eligibility rules will not apply retroactively, meaning current players will not gain additional eligibility under the new guidelines.
