IU basketball transfer portal name to know and waiver to watch

Syracuse transfer center Eddie Lampkin has become a player to keep an eye for a couple reasons.

According to reports, IU has been in contact with the big man through the transfer portal.

It isn’t clear just yet how serious of a pursuit this is for Indiana, and part of the reason why is it isn’t clear how Lampkin could have any eligibility remaining.

Both variables — his eligibility and whether things go anywhere with IU — will be interesting to watch unfold. And for now, we’re covering him as much as a proxy for the state of college basketball as he is a candidate to play for IU.

There no doubt the 6-foot-11 and 265-pound Lampkin would be a factor if he gets another college season.

A Texas native, Lampkin was an All-ACC performer last season, averaging 11.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 59.6% from the floor. The points and rebounds were career highs. He shot the first five threes of his career and made two. He also led the ACC in double-doubles.

24 in May, Lampkin has played in five college seasons already. He played his first three years at Texas Christian, then a year at Colorado, and this past season at Syracuse. He’s played in 137 games, scored 1,154 points, and grabbed 954 rebounds over his college career.

Lampkin’s claim to an extra year appears to center around 2020-21, when he played in just 10 games for TCU. Ostensibly based on his limited action that year, he’s requesting a waiver from the NCAA to play another season.

Very generally speaking NCAA hardship waiver requests require a player see action in 30% or less of a team’s games while suffering a season-ending injury. Those aren’t firm rules. But Lampkin doesn’t meet either requirement as TCU played just 26 games that season and he played in the final game of the year.

What complicates Lampkin’s case further is the 2020-21 season already doesn’t count against eligibility due to the COVID blanket waiver. He played four full seasons after that. So his argument would have to be that he never got a full fifth season like everyone else, because he only played 10 games in year one. Sounds like a longshot, especially with his fact pattern that season, but who knows in this rapidly evolving college sports landscape.

The NCAA has seen a wave of waiver requests this offseason, and may see a wave of lawsuits if they deny some of those requests.

Luke Goode and Tucker DeVries are both waiting for approved waivers to be eligible to play for Indiana next season. Another IU portal target, Charleston’s Ante Brzovic, also has a pending request.

But if Lampkin gets a waiver then you know the NCAA has truly opened the floodgates to avoid the courts.