This June, the National Collegiate Athletics Association changed college sports forever. The NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved an overhaul of college athletics. Starting in the 2026 season, all athletes are eligible for five years of athletics if they enroll before their nineteenth birthday. This was an effort to eliminate the ambiguity of red shirts and other confusing rules for athletes. This rule, called the “5-for-5”, is an extremely controversial topic in sports. From recruiting to pro players, NCAA sports will look a little different in years to come.
Essentially, this new rule blurs the line between collegiate and professional athletics. Combined with Name Image and Likeness (NIL) profits, college athletics is turning into a high pressure job. Football and basketball players are making thousands of dollars, turning this extra year into even more profit. The NCAA exempted the class of 2022 in this law, and many athletes believe this is unfair. Lawsuits have already broken out about the earnings, bringing the federal court into the NCAA. A Northern Colorado basketball player filed a class action lawsuit arguing that the rule’s timing violated federal antitrust law by denying him and other athletes the same opportunity. The NCAA claims that around 300 players have already won the right to more eligibility. Many courts around the country have had similar cases with varying results. Some athletes have won big cases, but the NCAA has also appealed some of the rulings that would have given hundreds of athletes an extra year of eligibility. Pace Alum and Cal Berkeley Volleyball Player Grace Agolli explained how this is affecting her team in California. “For me as a junior I’ve just had to have a few extra conversations with my coaches about what the next 2 years look like for me. It’s important to keep all your options open. We’ve also had meetings with compliance about how the 5th year rule affects our degrees as well,” she said. In addition to the profit from NIL, students would also be able to pursue graduate degrees in their fifth year at the school. Pace Varsity Basketball Coach Sharman White has also noticed changes in College Basketball. “For current college players, this new model is basically a five-year running clock. Once it starts, sitting out, transferring or not playing doesn’t stop it which could be either an advantage or disadvantage. I expect even more to this as legislation is moving forward on this along with NIL,” he said.
Additionally, there have already been some debates on whether or not professional athletes can come back to college teams. Two football players who had recently been cut from NFL teams in training camp came to LSU to use their last year. This turned into a huge lawsuit against LSU football coach Lane Kiffin. For now, the NCAA cannot penalize teams for adding new players onto the roster. After this the SEC got involved, urging the rule to keep NFL players out of the NCAA. As of print, this issue has not been fully settled.
College recruiting has also changed with the new rule. With rosters only having a limited number of spots, having every player for an extra year limits the new athletes’ opportunities. “The new 5th year rule will be a challenge for high school kids in my opinion as it pertains to recruiting as it could make the college roster logjam even tighter. Right now high-school prospects are already competing for college roster spots against transfers, JUCO players and older college players. Under the new system, more productive college players may remain on rosters for a fifth season which eliminates possible spots for high school recruits” said Sharman White. It will be increasingly rarer to see a freshman get playing time on any college team. Pace Junior and Softball player Megan Wrigley recently went through the recruiting process and committed to NC State. “Recruiting was difficult because many schools that I expected to reach out filled the rosters out with fifth year players. The colleges just did not have enough money in their program to take on new players,” she explained.
All in all, the new “5-for-5” rule is already having major impacts on College athletics. As time goes on, expect to see a very different game and athletes from the college sports world.