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FGCU says its prepared for NCAA's new 5-year athlete eligibility era - The NCAA is introducing a new eligibility model for Division I student-athletes.
- Athletes will have five years to play collegiately after high school graduation or their 19th birthday.
- The new model, starting in Fall 2027, eliminates most waivers for extending eligibility, such as redshirts.
Since the NCAA introduced the transfer portal in 2018, the Division I landscape has become akin to the Wild West.
Rules have been contested and constantly changing every step of the way as NIL, no-limit transfers and more rulings have been introduced over the years.
The NCAA took a step in trying to clear up one area of ambiguity student-athletes eligibility.
On June 24, the Division I Cabinet passed a new eligibility model that will impact more than 360 schools, including FGCU.
The model, also known as the "five-for-five rule," provides student-athletes across all sports with five years of eligibility over five seasons.
Each player's eligibility clock begins upon initial full-time college enrollment or at the beginning of the academic year following the athlete's 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.
We have been prepared for this eligibility model change and are embracing the future of the college athletics landscape, FGCU interim athletic director Lauren Leister said in a release.
This will be beneficial in streamlining and standardizing the eligibility rules.
At FGCU, we have already taken the proactive approach of informing and providing education on the new eligibility rules to our 15 intercollegiate athletic teams and more than 250 student-athletes.
The new model also eliminates the use of certain waivers to extend an athletes eligibility.
This includes redshirts, medical waivers, and clock extensions for athletes who transfer to Division I from lower divisions like junior college.
There will be a few exceptions remaining in place for waivers, including pregnancy, religious mission, and active-duty military service.
The rule will go into effect starting with the 2026-27 academic year, and players who exhausted their eligibility and concluded their college careers during the 2025-26 year will not be granted an additional season of eligibility.
It really releases tension and stress that's on the NCAA with all the waivers that they're getting, FGCU mens basketball coach Pat Chambers said.
Now there's not a waiver.
Now it's like, 'Hey, you have (up to) five years to play collegiate basketball.' I think that's a really good thing.
I really believe for us it's going to be an advantage.
Come here, hopefully we can keep our players for 2 to 3 years, develop, get better, help us win championships, be in the community, really make an impact on this university.
Since the installation of the new transfer portal and eligibility rules, mid-major programs like FGCU have seen players start their careers and move on to more nationally recognized programs after a successful season.
Eagles softball coach Lindsay Fico shared a similar sentiment to Chambers, saying the new rules could help her program retain players for longer without them feeling rushed to move up.
I think it helps improve the talent of your roster.
I think it also helps in the mid-major world that were in, Fico said.
Were not handing out six-figure checks for them to say yes, so theyre coming here for different reasons, and usually those different reasons are things that could keep them here.
Knowing that we have that extra year to really cultivate a relationship for them to really buy in to what were doing, or to have a little bit more time to develop, I do think that could end up helping us in the long run, Fico added.
Fico also noted that the new rule could also improve how her program recruits high school athletes with more certainty and security of whos coming back year to year.
We anticipated the passing of five in five, so it was us trying to stay ahead of the curve instead of offering money, and assuming that money was going to graduate and move on, and then have to have really uncomfortable conversations after the fact, Fico said.
I think we did a good job because our administration did a good job ..
We basically havent doubled ourselves up.
The one aspect that could change for FGCU, Fico said, is how it recruits junior college and international players because their eligibility will be based on their age.
Fico added that recruiting from these ranks is still worth it because of the experienced background the players can bring.
A lot of times international students come in older than your stereotypical American student, even if they go JUCO.
Where youre going to have to be careful are the birth dates of your international students, Fico said.
But even if I have them three years after they spend two years in JUCO, I have a more developed, better equipped student-athlete than somebody that is fresh out of high school thats never done it.
Time will tell how effective the five-year model is in practice, but FGCU coaches said it looks to be a promising band-aid to alleviate the pressure resulting from college athletics ever-changing landscape.