It would appear Kentucky Basketball’s dream of Year 5 Otega Oweh just took a massive blow.
On Monday, the NCAA held a meeting to determine if the 5-in-5 proposal was going to move forward, meaning college athletes would be granted five playing seasons in a five-year window if it passes.
While it’s expected to pass, it sounds like it won’t apply to graduating college seniors such as Oweh.
NCAA President Charlie Baker told ESPN today that he’s optimistic that the proposal will move forward after the Division
I Board of Directors met today. However, they will recommend not implementing this rule retroactively for graduates and players with exhausted eligibility.
“If you’ve used up your eligibility, you’ve used it up,” Baker told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
So, for now, it appears Oweh will not be allowed to play one more season. However, while Oweh may not exercise this option, you can bet that there’s going to be a host of outgoing seniors who sue the NCAA for a fifth season. And you have to think they’ll have a good case for it, based on how many eligibility lawsuits the NCAA has lost in recent years.
In fact, I’d bet that there will be at least a couple of players who sue the NCAA and get a fifth season. It appears Florida and former Wildcat Denzel Aberdeen will end up going that route, and there will be plenty of others who follow suit.
Will Oweh be willing to make that type of Hail Mary move? It appears that’s his only hope of getting one more season, but at this point, he may simply be ready to move on and begin his professional career.
As for Mark Pope and Co., they’ll likely be operating as if an Oweh return is off the table, instead focusing their resources on players who can play next season for certain.
