Three key takeaways from the new NCAA eligibility rules

The NCAA ratified a new 5-in-5 rule to eligibility that will reshape the college athletic landscape.

Here are some key takeaways from the new rules:

No more redshirts

Well … not really. 

The new rules give athletes five years to play five seasons. The typical “redshirt” year is technically built into a student-athlete's eligibility clock. Coaches don’t have to worry about using a redshirt and possibly burning a year of eligibility due to roster constraints or injuries. 

Coaches can, and most certainly will, use this extra year as a developmental year for freshmen.

Regardless, Santa Clara University men’s basketball Head Coach Herb Sendek might have just fallen to his knees somewhere in the South Bay. A known user of the redshirt system, Sendek will have to find a new way to develop his players.

Bye bye waivers and old freshmen

In a statement, the NCAA said that eligibility waivers will be eliminated after July 31. Any waivers from the 2025-26 year or before must be resubmitted. 

This will effectively end the long battles in court over these eligibility waivers, which allowed some athletes to gain seven years of eligibility.

The new rules also ended the reign of terror that was 20-plus-year-old freshmen on rosters, causing significant roster logjams and locking out young freshmen on rosters. A student-athlete’s eligibility clock begins in the fall semester after their 19th birthday.

Legal battles, already

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before.

Less than 24 hours after the announcement and ratification of these new eligibility rules, 15 college basketball players filed a lawsuit in Ohio state court, according to the Associated Press. Other lawsuits are expected to follow in other states.

The lawsuit sought an injunction for athletes who graduated high school in 2022 and never redshirted, saying the new eligibility model unfairly blocks the athletes out of a fifth year of eligibility. 

According to the NCAA statement, any student-athlete who used its last year of eligibility in 2025-26 will not be granted an extension.