Eligibility question

[Houndawg]

I have an eligibility guestion: Can a player who starts college on a basketball scholarship and switches schools to play on a football scholarship find an extra year of eligibility somewhere?

[andy7171]

I would think that if the player starts off at school #1 to play basketball loses that Fall season of football because that player was at school and eligible to play football.

I think that that year could be red shirted away, technically though.

[Green26]

I think the rule is that an athlete has 5 years (consecutive) to complete no more than 4 years (playing as opposed to red-shirting) of his sport or sports. Thus, an athlete could play 4 years of football and 4 years of basketball, during the 5-year period. The athlete could also play 4 years of basketball, and then play football in his 5th year. In the latter scenarioi (i.e. 4 years of hoops and then 1 year of football), for a scholarship athlete, a 5th year of a "basketball" schollie would count against the football schollie limitation, even if not provided by the football team.

To answer the question first posed in this thread, I believe the athlete would have "used" his football redshirt year in the first year of hoops, but could still play 4 years of football. Depending on the particular schools and levels, the transfer rules could also come into play. If the player went to NAIA, then I think the rules might get even more flexible.

[Khan4Cats]

My understanding is you have five years of athletic eligibility (4 active + redshirt) in any sport once you start as a full-time student and go out for a sport. Even trying out as a walk-on is included in this time frame. But you can play in multiple sports in this 5 year period.

In kind of a reverse situation, UNI had to deal with a player who started his career at Minnesota as a defensive lineman, redshirted his freshman year there then transferred to UNI because he wanted to play basketball too. He was immediately eligible to play football (per FBS to FCS transfer rules) and has 4 years for FB but had to sit a full year in basketball and only has three years of eligibility for BB left. He's now a junior in both sports.

[Kosty]

This is actually happening at UMass right now. Ben Coblyn, a local Amherst kid, initially went to BU for basketball. He stayed 2 years at BU playing hoop (04-05 and 05-06). He then decided to transfer to UMass for football. He had to sit out last football season (06-07) and is playing this year. He's listed on the UMass site as a redshirt junior, meaning he has two years of eligiblity left, this season (07-08) and next season (08-09).

http://umassathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/coblyn_ben00.html

It says he took a redshirt in basketball his freshman year at BU (04-05).

[Houndawg]

Thanks for the help, folks. I asked because there is an (unsubstantiated) rumor that SIU's QB might be allowed a a sixth year on a technicality. I have no connection to the program or reason to believe this other than hope.