NCAA move could reshape KU athletes' eligibility under new rules
KU could gain a fifth season for some athletes under the NCAA’s new model, while older freshmen and exhausted eligibility cases may lose out.
The NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved an age-based eligibility model on June 23 that gives Kansas athletes five seasons in a five-year window instead of the traditional four seasons in five years. For Lawrence programs built on transfers, redshirts and late-developing players, the shift alters roster planning at Kansas Athletics before prospects ever step on campus.
Under the new system, the eligibility clock starts at a student’s initial full-time enrollment in college or at the beginning of the academic year after the athlete turns 19, whichever comes first. The current setup uses waiver requests and redshirt rules case by case. The change is intended to create greater certainty and simplify roster-management decisions.
For Kansas, the clearest winners are players who are still developing after a junior season or who entered college on a standard timeline and still have years of growth ahead. A player who has just finished a junior year at the University of Kansas gains a fifth year under the new model. In the other direction, an older freshman can be squeezed out. A 23-year-old who has completed only one season after coming from Europe can lose the extra flexibility he might have had under today’s rules.
Schools may apply whichever system is more favorable to current student-athletes who still have eligibility after the 2025-26 academic year. Waivers for current student-athletes and prospects end July 31. The NCAA did not grandfather in athletes who exhausted eligibility during the 2025-26 campaign.
Former KU defensive end Dean Miller filed a lawsuit seeking another year of eligibility to play at UCF.
The Division I Board of Directors directed the Cabinet on April 27 to advance an age-based model, the Cabinet modified it on June 5 after input from men’s ice hockey, men’s basketball and United States national service academies, and then approved it on June 23. The rule will apply to prospects first enrolling full time in fall 2027 or later.
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