Court orders on NCAA eligibility have swept across the college athletic landscape, and they may have an impact for Kansas State men’s basketball senior Max Jones.
A transfer from Cal State Fullerton, Jones spent the first two years of his college career at the Division II University of Tampa. Similarly, Wisconsin football’s Nyzier Fourqurean played two years at DII Grand Valley State.
Fourqurean filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, saying those two years should not count against his NCAA eligibility as he was denied the opportunity to profit from NIL after having limited time at a higher level.
Fourqurean was granted at least one extra year of eligibility after his lawsuit against the NCAA.
“We’ve been on the forefront of that one,” K-State head coach Jerome Tang said. “Whatever we can do to get Max Jones another year of eligibility, I’m all about it.”
Extra years of eligibility for Division I transfers from lower levels of NCAA is a recent trend in college athletics. Former junior college players such as K-State defensive tackle Uso Seumalo gained an extra year after Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia sued the NCAA, citing that his time at the junior college level shouldn’t count against his overall NCAA eligibility.
The NCAA then released a blanket waiver for all NCAA athletes who transferred from junior college at the end of last year. As of now, former Division II athletes haven’t been issued a blanket waiver.
However, Tang is hopeful one is on the way.
“We have a compliance department that looks into waivers, and that was one of my specialties,” Tang said. “… We’re gonna turn over every rock and figure it out. … Normally, when one kid gets it, to avoid a series of lawsuits, they’ll just do a blanket waiver, like they did for [Pavia]. And so I hope to see that happen.”
In his first year in Manhattan, Jones has started in every game and solidified himself as one of the Wildcats’ most consistent players in a season of ups and downs. He averages 9.6, 3.9 rebounds and two assists per game.
Jones is tied with super senior David N’Guessan for third in minutes per game played this season. N’Guessan, a third-year Wildcat, is the Wildcats’ leader in points and rebounds per game this year.
A return to the Little Apple by Jones would be a huge boost toward the changes in the program that Tang stated he wants to see, prioritizing building roster consistency.
“He’s playing like a third-year guy in the program that cares,” Tang said of N’Guessan. “He’s become much more vocal and assertive, his actions speak really loud now. That’s part of the growth process, and it’s great to see. Hopefully, we can get more guys to stick around longer and see that kind of evolution.”
With the regular season still winding down, Tang said they haven’t sat down with Jones to discuss the possibility of returning yet. Still, they’ll be eager to have that conversation when it’s time.
“I know he’s aware of what’s happening out there,” Tang said. “I know that if the opportunity is there for him to come back, we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure he does.”
