Sixteen national coaches associations have written the NCAA Division I Board of Governors in support of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s effort to change decades-long eligibility requirements for junior college athletes.
Calling those eligibility standards “inexplicably more stringent” for junior college athletes transferring to NCAA schools, the NJCAA asked for “immediate change.” The letter was sent to the NCAA on Monday.
The coaches associations from football (AFCA) as well as men’s and women’s basketball (NABC and WBCA) did not sign the letter and may be working on its own communications with the NCAA.
Specifically, the NJCAA is questioning why junior college athletes are required to have a higher grade-point average (2.5) than athletes transferring between four-year institutions (2.0).
In addition, the NJCAA is questioning these “different standards” for JUCO athletes …
- Academic non-qualifiers at a four-year school can regain eligibility after one academic year if they achieve 1.8 GPA over 24 credit hours. A non-qualifying junior college athlete who graduates with a two-year degree must have 48 transferrable credit hours and at least a 2.5 GPA to transfer.
- Transfers between four-year schools have guaranteed scholarships for the remainder of their five-year eligibility clock. Junior college transfers are not guaranteed scholarships for the length of their NCAA eligibility.
- Athletes in various sports are allowed a limited number of scrimmages. Think of baseball and softball participating in “fall ball” before the spring season. If junior college athletes participate in more than two scrimmages at the junior-college level before transferring, that counts as a season of competition.
The NJCAA has basically taken the stance that two-year athletes are being discriminated against academically.
“Student-athletes should not be punished or treated adversely because they have enrolled in a two-year institution before transferring to an NCAA institution,” the letter asserts.
The fate of junior college athletes has been highlighted lately amid a lawsuit by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who won a preliminary injunction in district court allowing him a sixth year of eligibility after playing at New Mexico Military Institute, a junior college. The NCAA is appealing.
Diego Pavia’s (temporary) win vs. NCAA could open door for other JUCO transfers, but that may not be popular
Richard Johnson
There is also an emerging feeling that NJCAA schools could monetize and formalize their relationship as a “minor league” to Division I.
The percentage of athletes from junior colleges that make up Division I rosters is not clear because of the sport and roster size. However, one report reflected the impact of the transfer portal on JUCO players.
In 2018, Power Five football schools averaged about two JUCO players per team (129), according to one report. By 2021, the year one-time transfer rules started, that number dropped to 45.
The letter is signed by Carol Bruggeman, CEO of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. She represents the coaches associations from field hockey, wrestling, men’s and women’s golf, cheerleading, track, baseball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, swimming and diving, equestrian, volleyball, tennis, water polo and acrobatics.
The first junior college was founded in 1901. Some four-year college presidents back then concluded the first two years of college were not necessarily broad-based, “university-level” classes. Over time, JUCOs became a haven for students who couldn’t afford or weren’t academically ready for a four-year college.
Before the impact of the portal, junior colleges were seen as recruiting stops for quick replacements to shore up a roster. Some of the most famous names in American sports have attended junior colleges. Among those are Jackie Robinson, Albert Pujols, Bryce Harper as well a pair of Heisman winners, Roger Staubach and Cam Newton. Georgia’s Stetson Bennett won a pair of championships after attending Jones College in Ellisville, Mississippi.
The NJCAA has been around since 1938. Its 514 schools are about half of the NCAA total, and its budget is just a fraction of the NCAA’s $1 billion. The state of California has a separate community college athletic association.
NJCAA president and CEO Christopher Parker describes his relationship with NCAA president Charlie Baker as “nonexistent.”
“I have made efforts to connect with Charlie Baker to work together for the good of all students,” Parker recently told CBS Sports, “But we haven’t received any indication of Charlie’s willingness to do so collaboratively.”
The Board of Governors is the NCAA’s highest governance body and is responsible for making long-term strategic decisions.
