The new "5-in-5" NCAA eligibility rule that is set to go into effect across the NCAA has some great news tucked into it for players like Nolan Winter. There's also good news for other sports, like Charlie Fuerbringer, giving her more time to help Wisconsin volleyball. But it may have thrown a curveball at Owen Foxwell. Why?
Well, it's not a true "5-in-5" rule; the clock starts as soon as a player is eligible for college. At 19 years old, the clock starts, whether a player is in college or not. If they are playing professionally overseas, in Australia, for example, the clock has already started. The goal is to limit players who are 25 years old and older from coming over to college to play sports, simply because they never did when they were college age.
Owen Foxwell may already be running out of eligbility even though he's never played in college
Related: Owen Foxwell's ties to an NBA prospect should have Badger fans wildly encouraged
However, this is a real curveball for Owen Foxwell, who will be turning 23 years old when the Badgers basketball season starts. It's not quite determined how many years this will give him, as a couple of things aren't clear. One question is, how does this affect players who are already in college? While it seems that there will be no "grand-fathered" in players. It will simply start immediately. Which could answer the question.
Foxwell would then be on his final season of eligibility before even starting. If 19 years old is when the clock starts, and Foxwell will be 23 years old in August, this means he's already in his final season. Yet, since his birthday is in August, there could be a chance that he actually has this year and the following year. There will be 24-year-olds in college depending on their birthdays.
The other thing that needs to be mentioned is that, as with everything in the NCAA right now, it's all pending lawsuits. The NCAA hasn't been able to make any rule in the last few years that wasn't challenged in court. This one will be the same, there's no doubt.
Foxwell has already played a handful of years in the NBL and was one of the elite point guards of the league last season. He averaged over 11.1 points and 4.5 assists per game for SE Melbourne. He chose to come to Wisconsin and be the next featured point guard for Greg Gard after Nick Boyd ran out of eligibility (speaking 25-year-olds).
So while the new NCAA eligibility rule is good news for players like Nolan Winter, it may end up being bad news for Owen Foxwell. It also could affect Victory Onuetu (another Badger transfer), who is 22 years old and also played overseas in Spain.
Stay tuned to how this all plays out, there's some good news, bad news going on in this new rule, and who knows how much it will be tied up in courts.
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