The ever-changing world of college athletics has opened up a brand new crisis to contend with just a couple of weeks ahead of the 2026 college football season.
With student-athletes now being compensated financially for their contributions to the university -- and rather handsomely in many cases -- and having the freedom to transfer multiple times, if they so desire, during their collegiate eligibility time frame with little or no consequences, the landscape of college sports has, in short order, become more like the Wild Wild West than the unencumbered amateur competition and enjoyment escape your dad and grandfather experienced in the past.
The latest controversy to ensnare college athletics involves eligibility requirements.
In June, the NCAA approved an age-based eligibility window, which allows collegiate athletes to participate for five years instead of the previous four, but it also eliminates redshirts and medical waivers (in most cases), which were a way to get around the four-year rule in the past. The eligibility window, however, is not open-ended. It starts with the first full academic year immediately following your 19th birthday.
Read more: Brent Venables has always been behind the NCAA's latest eligibility change
The term being used for the new eligibility rule is "five-in-five" or "five-for-five." The new model was supposed to go into effect with the 2027 recruiting class, but a U.S. District Court judge in Colorado on Friday granted a preliminary injunction declaring that all athletes from the 2022 class who just completed their fourth year of collegiate athletic eligibility are also entitled to a fifth year. The NCAA is expected to appeal the federal court ruling.
A number of former Sooners could be affected by the federal court ruling on 5-year eligibility
A Stormin in Norman article on Saturday by Dekota Gregory reported on three Oklahoma football players who were affected by Friday's federal court ruling and could choose to return for a fifth season, but the new five-year model also would apply to several other undrafted Sooner athletes from major programs who were members of the 2022 recruiting class and whose eligibility would have ended after the 2025-26 season.
In men's basketball, 6-foot-9 forward Tae Davis would be eligible to return for another season if Friday's federal court ruling stands up. The former Notre Dame transfer averaged 13 points and nearly six rebounds a game last season for the Sooners and would be a major addition to OU's front-court depth next season.
On the women's side of the hardwood, OU All-American Raegan Beers could have been impacted as she began her collegiate career in the 2022 recruiting class. The Sooners' second-leading scorer last season completed four years but went undrafted in the WNBA Draft. She is currently under contract, however, as a member of the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, where she is averaging 3.6 points a game.
Eight members of Oklahoma's 2026 national championship team were selected in this years' MLB Amateur Draft. Three eligible players were not drafted with starting first baseman Dayton Tockey, outfielder Trey Gambill and utility Cayden Brumbaugh, and would be eligible to return for a fifth collegiate season under the federal court ruling.
Tockey hit six of his nine home runs for the season during the Sooners' postseason games. But he will best be remembered this season for hitting the walk-off home run in extra innings against No. 2-seeded Georgia Tech to win the Atlanta Regional and effectively launch Oklahoma's national championship run.
If Tockey and Gambill were to elect to return for a fifth year, the reigning national champs would bring back five members of the starting lineup for the 2027 season.
Eligible to return for Patty Gasso's defending SEC champion softball team are outfielder Abby Dayton and pitchers Kiersten Deal and Sydney Berzon.
Dayton, a former transfer from Utah, hit .386 for the Sooners this past season, along with eight home runs and 43 runs batted in. Berzon, who was with OU for one season after transferring from LSU, was 6-2 in 10 starts and 26 overall appearances with a 2.63 ERA. Deal had a 2-0 record in 16 total appearances in the circle and an ERA of 7.50.
The Sooners' starting second baseman the past two seasons, Ailana Agbayani, also would have been eligible based on her 2022 recruitment class. Agbayani, however, was drafted and signed by the Chicago Bandits of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League.
The national champion Oklahoma women's gymnastics squad could also potentially benefit from the new five-year eligibility rule. Four-time All-American and NCAA 2026 All-Around champion Faith Torrez would be eligible to return for another season.
Not everything is a bed of roses with the new 5-year eligibility rule
Much has been widely reported about the giant controversy exploding around name, image and likeness. Not that college athletes shouldn't receive compensation, but that the process and practices associated with it are not applied and managed in a universal manner and without a uniform set of rules and regulations that applies to all.
To put it simply, under the current system, the spoils are easily awarded to the schools with the richest donors, which can and often turns the recruiting process into more of a financial transaction than a merit-based activity. Moreover, there are no clear guidelines or bumper rails to control it.
While the new rule granting a flat five years of collegiate eligibility to all student-athletes would appear to be a giant plus, there are some downsides associated with it as well. Namely, the new rule no longer takes into account season-ending injuries or other assorted hardship cases as a means of preserving an extra year or years of eligibility. The only exceptions will be military service, religious missions and maternity leave.
With a fifth year being granted to college athletes, chances of moving up on the depth chart or into starting positions by underclassmen may be further restricted, especially in the short-term. The transfer portal already causes roster management issues for head coaches. The new eligibility rule could further exacerbate the situation, and court rulings now complicate things even more.
Finally, those athletes who graduated from high school in 2021 find themselves caught in the middle of a pair of NCAA rule changes on eligibility.
During the COVID pandemic, college athletes who competed in 2020 and had their athletic seasons canceled were entitled to an extra year of eligibility, giving those who chose to take advantage of the opportunity an extra year to participate beyond the standard four. Now those who graduated from high school in 2022 are being extended the same five-year opportunity. Caught in the middle, without the same benefit, are those student athletes who graduated from high school in 2021.
Now that we ostensibly have the college eligibility issue reined in a little bit, it's time get going on setting some strict parameters around NIL contracts and student-athlete compensation.
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