Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - REFORM: 5 In 5 Rule DRIVES Kansas Jayhawks’ Game Plan—How Does Evolving Landscape Help & Hurt KU?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The age-based eligibility model has officially passed. What does it mean for KU and college sports as a whole? You are Locked-on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on, Derek Johnson here, and on this bonus episode of Lockdown Jayhawks, we break down what the 5-and-5 is going to mean for KU and collegiate sports in general. get to how it affects KU basketball's pursuit of another big addition.

Starting point is 00:00:38 We'll get to how it affects KU as a whole from, you know, all the different sports. And we'll start right here, which is what is it, what is going on? So the NCAA Division I cabinet unanimously voted to approve the age-based eligibility model. And that is basically the official name of what many are calling the five in five, five, five, four, five, whatever you want to say. So basically what this means is the policy starts and athletes clock upon, on one, initial enrollment in college. So once you enroll in college, you now have five years from that point, or two, the academic year after your 19th birthday,

Starting point is 00:01:15 whichever occurs earlier. So theoretically, if you turn 19, like let's say you did a year of prep ball or something like that, if you turn 19 in July and then you enroll that year, then it would start, you know, that season, right? So basically this prevents if you have some of these European kids who are coming over in they're 23 years old, basically they won't be freshmen. They'll be like in their last year. It also basically means that if you're a European player who's trying to come over when

Starting point is 00:01:47 you're 24 years old, 25 years old, that ain't going to fly, right? Like I think LSU tried to add somebody who's like 25, 26. That ain't going to happen now, right? And so the age-based eligibility implementation begins this summer. It officially goes into passing on Wednesday when they get done with their meeting and currently enrolled athletes with eligibility remaining after the 2025 to 26 academic year. So meaning they still have eligibility in the 26, 27 year are going to be allowed to apply for the age-based model or continue with the previous eligibility rules, whichever is most beneficial to that individual. That could come into play later in something we're going to talk about with the KU player.

Starting point is 00:02:27 the cabinet previously reiterated that for current athletes, any waivers regarding eligibility under current rules must be submitted by schools and conferences no later than July 31st. So make sure to get your waiver in. And obviously, as part of this, too, not planning to, you know, indoctrinate the current players into this, right? So even if you were a four-year senior, you don't get your fifth year, which is probably going to lead to a lot of different lawsuits. And we'll see what happens from that, right? But this has huge repercussions on college sports from players being able to stay longer and in theory make the product and the sport better, quite honestly, right? Because the older you are, the more mature you are, the better you are. And the high school part of this is interesting too, because, you know, how does this affect high school recruiting in terms of on one hand?

Starting point is 00:03:19 Well, now there's more years of these college guys, which means less interest or less need to use a scholarship on a high school guy, right? and especially if you now have more players available to you, are you just going to go for that transfer? You're going to go for the high school kid. And that's unfortunate for the high school kids. On the other hand, it does increase the value of bringing in high school kids because now you have an extra year to develop them and to play them,

Starting point is 00:03:42 making a young resource you have even more valuable because you have more time to mold them into whatever you want. I think it also helps the junior colleges, right? Because with the junior colleges, if you're going to a junior, for two years. Now you come out, you're going to a college. You only have two years at your D1. Well, now you come out of your juco. You still have three years left at your D1 because of the five-year rule. So I think that helps the junior colleges as well, which in turn will help some of the high school kids as well, because they'll have more opportunities there. It does stink for the guys who

Starting point is 00:04:12 already took red shirts, obviously, because you could have just been like, well, shoot, I could have just played that year. And it would have been all the same because red shirts are basically gone. You just get an extra year now. But you could also say, okay, but if you're redshirting, were you realistically going to play anyway? So it probably, It probably doesn't matter overly much. But how does this affect the current KU guys, the current KU sports? Let's get to that. Next, this is Lockdown Jayhawks.

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Starting point is 00:06:07 Okay, how does this affect KU with the passing of this rule, right? It obviously from the rudimentary standpoint, and this goes for every college, it gives another year to all the players to be, you know, five-year guys. Now, if you're going to be a redshirt senior this season or a sixth-year senior, this doesn't help you, you know? It doesn't give you that extra year. for my money, I think this is going to have the biggest impact on football. I mean, just in general, football is the biggest roster, right? It's, I forget what it is now with the, is it 105 scholarships you can have or something up to that, even for the schools that are playing in the 85 to 90 range.

Starting point is 00:06:43 There's a lot of players on your team, right? And I think that'll be a positive for all these football teams because you're trying to, like in football, because it can be a war of attrition, you want to have good depth. And so being able to have an extra year for these players, get them a year older in the system. I think is going to be helpful for a lot of these football teams. I think it helps a school like Kansas too because I think as a smaller school, one way you can combat, you know, if this other school is recruiting all the four and five star kids is, okay, well, we'll get the older kids, you know.

Starting point is 00:07:11 So there's different things you can do there. I do think it'll have a big impact there. I also think it's going to have a huge impact on baseball because of what I said earlier, like specifically for a program like Kansas who recruits the juco level. I think this only makes it better for Kansas to recruit the juco level because what I said earlier in the past you spend two years at a juco then you come to kansas you only have two years before your eligibility's up well now if you bring on a juco kid who spent two years at his juco and sometimes you're getting juco kids who are spent one year at the juco you can still get those kids

Starting point is 00:07:42 for three years now and if you're getting someone who only spent one year to juco now they can be four year players for you um so i think that's really helpful for k u baseball i think it'll be helpful in general for a lot of teams from a football perspective um it'll be interesting from the basketball perspective for KU because you have some guys that I think it makes some of the transfer portal additions that KU made even more valuable. Like you think of Leroy-Blyden, you think of Kianu-Daz, those guys get an extra year now. And there's no guarantee in today's day and age that they won't enter the transfer portal and see what else is out there, what the market is for, you know, somebody else next

Starting point is 00:08:18 year. But it at least gives you the opportunity to have these guys if they hit and, you know, they work out for you to bring them back. and have a lot of success there, right? And that can be exciting in a world where we don't see a lot of continuity, right? Even volleyball, like comes to mind because in volleyball, Reese Messer, who is like the Kansas Gatoradeade Player of the Year, really good setter, goes to USC, has a great freshman season at USC transfers and comes to Kansas. And a result of that was that KU lost a commitment to a five-star setter recruit in the class

Starting point is 00:08:56 of 2027, she flips to Ohio State. But now it kind of adds up even more because Messer will be a sophomore in 2026 and maybe before, you know, if you're the five star setter in the class of 27, you say, okay, well, I would have to come on and I could redshirt my first year and then I'd only be a backup for one year. And then by the time I'm redshirt sophomore, I'm the starting setter. But now because the five and five, like it works out okay for Kansas that they lose a five star setter by getting in Messer because now you still have four years of Reese Messer. So, you know, impact there as well. I guess quickly to, like, go through some of the different sports,

Starting point is 00:09:32 I'm not going to get to all of them because it would just take forever if we go to, like, every sport, if we get to, you know, track and field and soccer and everything. But the ones that come to mind for me, like basketball, I think of, okay, Leroy Blighton, you can get him for four years now, right? Last year was basically a redshirt year for him, except he got real valuable experience and was a really good player in the Mac. Kiano Dawes, if you can get two years out of him, I was already excited for one year of them now imagine you can get a second year right all the incoming freshman k you brought in i i don't know

Starting point is 00:10:01 how much any of them are going to be in the rotation this year but now it gives all of them potentially another year to develop and work into that rotation uh from a football perspective the ones that come to mind for me coria mockery right i mean there's there's already talked this dude could get playing time as a true freshman running back and you know if he leaves after his third year and goes pro because he's that good. I mean, that's a good result to have. But like, you could have an extra year out of that. That'd be pretty cool. Nick McMillan, I think it would give him an extra year as part of this. Alex Bray, I think it would as well.

Starting point is 00:10:32 This is the one that I'm really excited about. Leroy Harris. Leroy Harris, you know, is a third year player and goes from somebody who was going to be a true junior this season to now being a third year that could potentially have two more seasons, right? Like that's really exciting for one of your best players on the football team. You look at baseball, like I was saying earlier with the Juko guys, it has a huge impact. Like Mungarieta, Baldridge, Schlaughterback, Owens, Cook, Naira, like some of these guys are going to have an opportunity after next year to go pro.

Starting point is 00:11:01 And so it won't matter. But theoretically, those guys can all get another year now and come back. And like, in theory, as we wait for decisions on Brady Bollinger and Dom vaguely, are they going to stay in the MLB draft as they're going to the draft combine, are they going to come back to school? You know, in theory now, if you're Bollinger or vaguely, they could either one could come back and say, hey, if I do decide to come back now to Kansas, I know that I would have a fifth year to where if I do come back to Kansas and struggle more

Starting point is 00:11:32 than I was hoping, I could still have another year as a fifth year to give me that extra year of insurance. Whereas, you know, if I come back now, it's a risk because what if I get hurt and I don't get to play that season. Well, now you could be like, well, if I got hurt and came back, I could still have another year of college, you know? Then you look at women's basketball. I mean, that's another year potentially of Samaya Nichols, right? which I think becomes even bigger for KU Women's Basketball because you look at the recruiting class they have coming in this year, you look at what they added last year with Jaliyah Davis.

Starting point is 00:12:01 Getting that young core to age another year and potentially be with Samai Nichols would be even more beneficial for KU. Now, she's probably going to be in a situation and get drafted pretty high by the WNBA, but a lot of times in the College Women's basketball game, the NIL contracts, they're getting more than like what an entry WNBA contract is. So there's a chance that could help for KU. And then I think like I was mentioned earlier, like in general,

Starting point is 00:12:26 kind of freshman coming in, if it matters there too. Now on the flip side, the players, it doesn't really help for KU. Christian Reeves, he'll be a redshirt senior. So that's your fifth year anyway.

Starting point is 00:12:38 Paul M. Bia doesn't get helped by this because he'll be, because now that it reverts to age, he'll be a third year player. So that'll mean he has this year, this upcoming season plus two more. well in the old format he would have been a sophomore so this year plus two more anyway so it doesn't hurt him but it doesn't help him um cam picket i think will be a redshirt senior so doesn't help him

Starting point is 00:12:59 all of the backup tight ends like latent cure carter moses um jalen butler all those guys will be fifth years so you don't get another year out of that um i'm not sure what's going to happen jalen adkins the late addition you made it the defensive tackle spot from juko because he's older he started his career a little bit later so i don't know what's going to happen there um then you have on McAlpine. This is the one that's really interesting to me. He'll be a redshirt senior. So in theory, this is his last year. And the thing that sucks out of that is he's injured right now. And there's a chance he could miss the season. And so you might have invested in this dude to come in and he's just never going to get to play for you. That would stink. Under the old format,

Starting point is 00:13:38 he might have been able to get a medical redshirt for this year. But in the five and five, it's just like, no, you're done after the five years, right? Here's where that rule I mentioned earlier is going to be interesting to me. Currently enrolled athletes with eligibility. remaining will be allowed to apply the age-based model or continue with the previous eligibility rules, whichever is most beneficial to that individual. So I see that byline and I wonder, can he go by the old rules and then apply for a medical redshirt so that if he does miss this season, he can still come back another year for KU. That would be hopeful because he's a really good player and it would suck to bring him in and not actually ever see him take a snap for KU.

Starting point is 00:14:14 All the linebackers don't get benefited here for KU, like Lathan, Crouch. I mean, like all these guys are fifth year seniors. The one exception is like Quincy Davis and then all your youngsters. Um, the safety spot, Corey Gordon, Mason Ellis, Jaden Harris, those are all fifth year they won't get another year as part of this as well. But I think overall this is good news for KU and it's probably good news for a lot of different teams over college sports. Now, how does this affect KU basketball's pursuit of maybe one more more big move? What about guys like Trey White and Melvin Council? How does it affect them? We'll get to that next. Our episode of the show is brought to you by Odu. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch

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Starting point is 00:15:29 And that's true in sports, just like it is in business. I mean, think about like Indiana football who just won the national championship, right? Like they had a lot of talent. They had a lot of good dudes get drafted, right? But were they as talented as the Ohio States and Alabama's and Georgia's of the world? I don't know, probably not to that level. But they were really well coached. They had a good organization from top to boss.

Starting point is 00:15:50 bottom, it all worked together. They were an older team. They knew what they wanted to do. The coaching staff and the roster construction all came together and boom, you win a championship in one of the craziest sports or stories in sports history. Great organizations win because operations matter. And that's why you should get Odo. Try it for free at Odo.com slash locked on. That is O'DO.O.com slash locked on. Thanks again for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks. You can check out our episodes anywhere, you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page and give us a follow at LO underscore Jayhawks and at D Johnson Radio. How does this affect KU's pursuit of one more big addition?

Starting point is 00:16:31 Well, let's start with Malik Ewan, right? So Ewan would actually be eligible under the five and five. Unfortunately, as we mentioned earlier, it's not retroactive, right? But here's the good news with Malik Ewan. It now opens up a second path for him to try to get eligibility. Right now he is trying to file for eligibility based on the idea that his Juko year shouldn't count, but also I think in there is the idea that he had a season that was cut short and he only played like 14 games. I think it was a situation where he like hit someone with his

Starting point is 00:17:04 car, which was found to be not his fault. And it just sidelined him for the season as they were investigating what happened. Right. So I would hope he can get another year regardless, but maybe they just point to it and go, okay, but now that's no longer our system. Our system is five and five. And, you know, then I don't know, he's not. He's not right. retroactive to it. But all it takes is, and this is important to point out here, and this is, could apply to a lot of guys who entered the portal, um, who were out of eligibility, but hoping that, you know, suit would come out because all it takes is one guy suing the NCAA, winning, saying, hey, why did these guys get the five and five, but I don't. Um, and that sets

Starting point is 00:17:44 precedent for other players to be able to sue and get eligible as well. And this was tweeted out on, in that regard by, uh, Pete Nacos, attorney Darren Heitner, tells on three that suits are being prepared on behalf of basketball players following today's news. A handful of college football players are also expected to explore the legal route. And obviously, yeah, maybe there's certain guys that KU football could bring back too. But you think about it right now with basketball, you know, maybe that's another opportunity for Ewan to get eligible. And that's how Trey White would have to get eligible, right?

Starting point is 00:18:14 I mean, we'll see what happens with the, as I'm recording right now, the NBA draft is hours away. And we'll see what happens with Trey White, you know, does he get drafted? does he get a two-way contract or something, right? Versus if he doesn't and he goes undrafted and he only gets summer league invites, and maybe he is more interested in coming back to college and coming back to KU, right? To where that would be another potential option if you're Kansas. Now, the Melvin Council one not eligible in the five and five.

Starting point is 00:18:45 Even if it was retroactive, even if you want a suit to make it retroactive, he would not be eligible in five and five. So just want to make that part clear. But right now, none of those guys are eligible. They would just have to win a suit. I would just think they'd have good grounds to win that suit. Like that,

Starting point is 00:19:03 I don't know, it seemed like a very obvious thing for the NCAA just to be like, yeah, let's not get sued. We'll just make it retroactive for the guys who, you know, if you just finished your fourth year of play, you can come back for a fifth year.

Starting point is 00:19:13 I feel like that would have just been an easier way of doing it. I get it would have complicated some roster constructions, but everything is complicated now anyway. way. Like it feels like this is just asking to be sued and sounds like that's going to kind of happen here. But this could be an opening for more players to hit the portal, for more good options to be available. And obviously, if Malik Ewan was one of them, that'd be a nice thing for KU. All right. That'll do it for this episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. See you next time.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - REFORM: 5 In 5 Rule DRIVES Kansas Jayhawks’ Game Plan—How Does Evolving Landscape Help & Hurt KU?

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