With every new day it seems a twist or turn arrives as it relates to the eligibility of college athletes.
On Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on X the Big Ten is going to pass a rule that prohibits league teams from rostering players who have been in the NFL.
“Sources: The Big Ten is set to pass a rule today that doesn’t allow players to return from the NFL and play for a Big Ten school,” Thamel wrote. “Anyone who has declared for the NFL Draft and did not withdraw, appeared on an NFL roster or signed a contract with a pro league cannot be on a Big Ten roster.”
This rule comes as multiple players participating in NFL training camps have been waived and announced their intent to return to college. Yesterday the SEC made a statement discouraging its members from signing such players, but didn’t ban the practice.
What does this mean for Indiana?
There are several layers to consider.
First and foremost, what does “declared for the NFL Draft” mean? Typically this phrase is narrowly interpreted to be limited to players who still believed they had eligibility remaining. Think: Fernando Mendoza, Omar Cooper, Jr. and D’Angelo Ponds. There is a formal process whereby those players must declare for the draft.
But there has been a recent trend where players who have exhausted their college eligibility publicly state their intent to enter the NFL Draft. Several Indiana players have done that in recent years, but it wasn’t as though they had another alternative and felt more like a publicity maneuver.
How would that impact players like Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt, who are both attempting to return to college for a fifth season after the NCAA passed a five-year eligibility rule.
Daley did exactly that on his X account in January before the NCAA passed its new five-year eligibility rule:
Obviously the Big Ten will need to clarify what it means by declaring for the draft.
Neither Daley or Wyatt signed an NFL contract.
Moreover, is the league going to limit this rule to the NFL? What about the NBA?
As things currently stand, Sam Alexis is eligible to play for the IU basketball team, but he did participate in the NBA summer league for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, both Daley and Wyatt are ineligible pending an NCAA appeal of the federal injunction that granted them eligibility. Last week the NCAA obtained a stay of the injunction until the NCAA appeal was heard. Reports Tuesday afternoon suggest the appeals process will take place in September — after the season has started.
Alexis is currently eligible, however, as his state-level injunction has not been successfully challenged to this point.
We’ll have more coverage when the Big Ten formally releases its rule.
