Who will get hurt by the "5 in 5" rule?

[longisland]

I was wrong. most holdbacks will lose a year. 

Edited April 30 by longisland

[Gantry]

No 6th or 7th or 8th years for anyone ever and I am fine with whatever rule they institute. 

[BruceyB]

On 4/28/2026 at 3:54 PM, Fletcher said:

Nothing to do with his age on the first day of classes. It's 5 years from when he turned 19, which was last August.

But we have to acknowledge that there is going to be a cutoff point for when you turn 19 and your eligibility starts.

Is the case that anyone in the birthyear of 2006's eligibility started in 2025-2026 because that is the standard year for them to be entering college?

If Bo was born in December instead of August would that mean that he gets an extra year of eligibility because he wasn't 19 yet when the 2025-2026 season began?

What about an athlete who was born in January of 2007 and turned 19 midway through this past season? Did their clock start because they were 19 during the 2025-2026 wrestling season?

There has to be a point of where your eligibility starts in relation to when you turned 19, and I haven't heard anything concrete in regards to that, but I think it would make the most sense to simply have it determined by birth year rather than some arbitrary point in the summer that would lead to much more pushback and court cases.

It makes the most sense to err on the side of giving the athletes which are within competitive high school rules the benefit of the doubt and say that any athlete born in 2006's eligibility starts in the fall of 2026 and so on. You're considered "19" during the first full calendar year in which will be 19.

 

[ceraIOI]

Could do something similar to a few states and base it around the season, ie. cant turn 23/24 until after NCAAs. haven't given it that much thought but cant think of too many downsides of that being the basis instead of start of semester or something.

[CHROMEBIRD]

9 hours ago, Alces Alces Gigas said:

That's the point, many are acting like jailhouse lawyers (compliance officers) without seeing what the rules will really look like.

That would be like congress proposing a law to limit the speed of all cars over 3000lbs to 45mph on interstate freeways. Sure, you could wait until the final text is available, but there's also enough information to weigh-in and give feedback.

I agree that we'll get more info once the text is actually drafted but there's been pretty good detail on what the 5x5 rule will entail and its directionality is pretty clear.

[jdalu75]

On 4/27/2026 at 7:10 PM, Fletcher said:

No worse off than their current situation, which is 4 yrs to complete. And Cornell could still continue their grayshirt scam for kids who aren't already a one-year holdback.

A lot of Ivy guys take greyshirt years, then spread their college years over five years, taking fall semesters off in order to preserve eligibility.  Doesn't sound like that will be allowed anymore.  Those gap years after high school (Penn State does that some too) are just lost years now.

 

Thinking about it some more, I don't know that the Ivies limit guys to just four seasons to compete.  They limit their students to eight semesters in school, which don't have to be consecutive; the NCAA has been limiting to four post-seasons.  So they may well be able to compete in five Ivy and NCAA tournaments; they just won't be able to stash at Spartan or an RTC before matriculating.

 

 

Edited April 30 by jdalu75

[Alces Alces Gigas]

3 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

That would be like congress proposing a law to limit the speed of all cars over 3000lbs to 45mph on interstate freeways. Sure, you could wait until the final text is available, but there's also enough information to weigh-in and give feedback.

I agree that we'll get more info once the text is actually drafted but there's been pretty good detail on what the 5x5 rule will entail and its directionality is pretty clear.

3000lbs empty weight or loaded weight?  The devil is in the details 

[BigRedFan]

3 hours ago, jdalu75 said:

Thinking about it some more, I don't know that the Ivies limit guys to just four seasons to compete.  They limit their students to eight semesters in school, which don't have to be consecutive; the NCAA has been limiting to four post-seasons.  So they may well be able to compete in five Ivy and NCAA tournaments; they just won't be able to stash at Spartan or an RTC before matriculating.

The Ivy rule is "four in five":  they have five (academic) years to use their four years of (Ivy) eligibility from the time they matriculate.

[Fletcher]

8 hours ago, BruceyB said:

But we have to acknowledge that there is going to be a cutoff point for when you turn 19 and your eligibility starts.

Is the case that anyone in the birthyear of 2006's eligibility started in 2025-2026 because that is the standard year for them to be entering college?

If Bo was born in December instead of August would that mean that he gets an extra year of eligibility because he wasn't 19 yet when the 2025-2026 season began?

What about an athlete who was born in January of 2007 and turned 19 midway through this past season? Did their clock start because they were 19 during the 2025-2026 wrestling season?

There has to be a point of where your eligibility starts in relation to when you turned 19, and I haven't heard anything concrete in regards to that, but I think it would make the most sense to simply have it determined by birth year rather than some arbitrary point in the summer that would lead to much more pushback and court cases.

It makes the most sense to err on the side of giving the athletes which are within competitive high school rules the benefit of the doubt and say that any athlete born in 2006's eligibility starts in the fall of 2026 and so on. You're considered "19" during the first full calendar year in which will be 19.

 

So today's message from NCAA is that it's five years of eligibility "beginning the regular academic year after they turn 19." Still not clear if this helps or hurts a kid like Bassett, who turned 19 last August and whether his last HS year counts as one of the 5 yrs.

[BruceyB]

39 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

So today's message from NCAA is that it's five years of eligibility "beginning the regular academic year after they turn 19." Still not clear if this helps or hurts a kid like Bassett, who turned 19 last August and whether his last HS year counts as one of the 5 yrs.

Yeah, Bo is pretty much the epitome of the questions surrounding the ruling. 

I still think the most likely outcome is going to be that everyone born in 2006 will get 5 years. It seems like the most logical choice as well as the path of least resistance. 

As I've said this whole time, the goal of limiting eligibility isn't to punish incoming athletes, it's to limit how long athletes are able to "go to school" and continue to compete.

[jdalu75]

I still see lots of legal challenges.  Plenty of parents hold their kids out of school for a year, or hold them back a grade after they began school, solely in order to improve their chances of landing that all-important college scholarship.  This was all based on the NCAA rules currently in place.  HS grads take gap years to boost their grades and/or improve their athletic skills in order to land spots in desirable colleges or to land that all-important college scholarship.  All that is in place because of the NCAA rules.  Now the NCAA is suddenly going to reverse course and sink all those plans?  I don't see it happening quietly.

 

The only ones who benefit from the 5x5 rule are those who can get into their preferred college right out of HS, are able to compete well immediately, and stay healthy for five consecutive years.  I'm guessing there aren't as many as we'd like to think.

 

[Ragu]

32 minutes ago, jdalu75 said:

Plenty of parents hold their kids out of school for a year, or hold them back a grade after they began school, solely in order to improve their chances of landing that all-important college scholarship.

I know I’m not the only one who thinks that that shit is lame as hell and I’m glad that this ruling is a step in the direction to end that foolishness. 

[jdalu75]

12 minutes ago, Ragu said:

I know I’m not the only one who thinks that that shit is lame as hell and I’m glad that this ruling is a step in the direction to end that foolishness. 

I agree.  My son was always the youngest child in his grade.  Bummed me out to see kids 18 months older then him getting varsity spots.  But he was also always able to handle the coursework.

[cl415]

I think there is going to be a wave of reclassifications coming. 

[JVBJ01]

On 4/27/2026 at 7:10 PM, Fletcher said:

No worse off than their current situation, which is 4 yrs to complete. And Cornell could still continue their grayshirt scam for kids who aren't already a one-year holdback.

How is it a scam?  Other schools can redshirt kids. 

[Fletcher]

23 minutes ago, JVBJ01 said:

How is it a scam?  Other schools can redshirt kids. 

Other schools aren't in a conference that prohibits it.

[scourge165]

On 4/27/2026 at 6:08 PM, Fletcher said:

5 yrs. from his 19th birthday which was last August.

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. BUT... it's still 5 years from his HS graduation. It's 19 OR graduation... as far as I've seen. 

Bassett's age gets a lot of criticism on here, but it's really not THAT crazy. He's held back and on the older side, but... I'm not even a particular fan of the kid(I AM a fan of him, just no more than Jax, Duke, Miller, Ross, etc...) but he seems like he catches a lot of shit that's a bit unjustified(not saying from you here, you were just pointing out my error). 

[scourge165]

9 hours ago, cl415 said:

I think there is going to be a wave of reclassifications coming. 

Why? Are we not doing the "5 years from graduation" rule still?

[BigRedFan]

10 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Other schools aren't in a conference that prohibits it.

All the Ivy League schools can do this, and most do.  Are Army and Navy also scamming with their prep schools?

Are there any schools that prohibit students from taking a gap year before matriculating?

(Anthony Knox probably needed that greyshirt to qualify academically to get into Cornell:  he failed.  Dylan Palacio said he needed a 4.0 in his classes that year to get into Cornell:  he succeeded.  All scams?)

[Alces Alces Gigas]

Why can't it be simple?    If you turn 25 after (you pick the day) you can't compete any longer.   

[MPhillips]

[ionel]

2 hours ago, Alces Alces Gigas said:

Why can't it be simple?    If you turn 25 after (you pick the day) you can't compete any longer.   

So if you enroll in college at age 16 you can compete 9 years?  

[CHROMEBIRD]

4 hours ago, ionel said:

So if you enroll in college at age 16 you can compete 9 years?  

My 4 year old is reclassifying as we speak and will be the next 15-timer. Book it.

[juniorvarsity]

Penn State will not be able to get creative with redshirts to get these guys in the lineup. Will be interesting to see. 

I'm sure Mirasola was planning on an Olympic resldshirt to find an extra year in that lineup at 197 in like 2030.

I am bullish on the idea that this rule will make things more competitive. Football players don't take huge issue with sitting the bench for a year or two at the powerhouse schools. Plenty of guys will come into the lineup at sophomore and juniors and show out and get drafted. Wrestling is different. I think the talent will get spread out. 

[LemonPie]

How will this affect Ryan Crookham - who seemingly needs 2 or 3 medicals?