yahoo
On June 23, the NCAA unanimously voted in favor of the age-based eligibility model which gives all athletes five years of eligibility over five seasons instead of five years to play four seasons.
An athlete's five-year clock begins upon college enrollment or at the beginning of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever comes first.
"While some have referred to this as the NCAA '5 for 5' rule, that is not accurate.
The age-based rule actually centers on a student-athletes age and when the student enrolls full time in college, and it does not guarantee five years for all student-athletes, particularly those who delay enrollment," the NCAA states.
The NCAA made this change in hopes to make eligibility rules "simpler" because under the new rules, there will be no redshirts and waivers will only be granted in the case of pregnancy, military service or religious missions.
Eligibility battles have been a prominent issue over the last few years and previously, the rules varied by sport and circumstance but now this applies "a consistent framework across all Division I sports ." For current student-athletes with eligibility remaining after the 2025-26 academic year, they can either use the new or old model depending on which is most beneficial to them.
The same option to choose stands for athletes who enroll full time during 2026-27.
The change isn't applied to athletes who completed their fourth season of college eligibility by the end spring 2026.
For student-athletes who enroll in the fall of 2027 and later, the age-based model will be fully implemented.
How 5-year eligibility model impacts South Carolina women's basketball For South Carolina women's basketball and most DI teams across all sports, the new model might not have direct effects on the roster until the freshmen from the 2027 class.
As June 30, it's still too early to know which method coach Dawn Staley 's players will adopt.
Players like Alicia Tournebize are a prime example of someone who might benefit from the new age-based policy.
Tournebize, a 6-foot-7 forward from France, joined the team in early January 2026 at the age of 18.
Under the old policy that was more specific to competition seasons rather than years, the 2025-26 season counted as her freshman year even though Tournebize was only on the roster from January to April, rather than a full year like her teammates.
As of now, she's a sophomore with three seasons of eligibility left.
If she decides to opt into the new model, she can still play four more full seasons.
Her five-year clock to finish five seasons began in 2026, so even though her first year was in 2025-26, she could play in 2026-27 (Year 2), 2027-28 (Year 3), 2028-29 (Year 4) and 2029-30 (Year 5).
Even if Tournebize decided to get that extra season, she might end up forgoing it and going into the WNBA draft depending on how her college career progresses.
If the new policy had been adopted earlier, Madina Okot would have been able to return since her clock began when she enrolled at Mississippi State in 2024-25, but her eligibility waiver was denied by the NCAA, forcing her to leave South Carolina after one season.
She went No.
13 overall to the Atlanta Dream and is averaging 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in her rookie WNBA season.
Current seniors Chloe Kitts, Ashlyn Watkins and Tessa Johnson are all expected to be early 2027 WNBA Draft picks after this season.
For Joyce Edwards, Maddy McDaniel and Jordan Lee (transfer from Texas), they could opt in to get three more years, playing until 2028-29 rather than two more.
Right now Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell are sophomores but the new model would let them play until 2029-30.
Adhel Tac redshirted her freshman year in 2023-24 so technically her timeline wouldn't shift in the new model either.
For the five incoming freshman in Oliviyah Edwards, Jerzy Robinson, Kaeli Wynn, Kelsi Andrews and Justine Loubens, they can have up to five years beginning this season.
While Wynn has been seen on social media participating in workouts with the team, this new rule could benefit her since she's coming off knee injuries and hasn't played since early 2025.
For a player to be WNBA draft eligible, all college players have to either graduate from a four-year college, turn 22 during the year the draft takes place or be four-years removed from high school graduation.
A program-high 12 players made WNBA rosters this season so if the pipeline from Columbia to the next level continues, Staley's players might just head to the WNBA after four seasons rather than staying in college for a fifth.
What's key to note is that this layout looks at how the new changes could impact Staley's current 15-person roster, but it's not yet been confirmed which eligibility model the players will adapt.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network.
Email her at [email protected].
Follow her on X @Lulukesin and Bluesky @bylulukesin.bsky.social This article originally appeared on Greenville News: How South Carolina, Dawn Staley will be impacted by new NCAA eligibility rules.