What the NCAA’s JUCO waiver means for UW Huskies

Dec 23, 2024, 5:36 PM | Updated: 5:40 pm

UW Huskies cornerback Thaddeus Dixon celebrates an incompletion against USC. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

(AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

UW Huskies Insider

Hundreds of NCAA athletes across all sports just received additional eligibility thanks to a ruling that also could impact the UW Huskies’ football roster.

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You may have heard about the lawsuit filed recently by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who sought additional eligibility by arguing that his junior-college experience shouldn’t count against his NCAA eligibility. A federal judge sided with Pavia in granting a preliminary injunction, clearing the way, at least temporarily, for Pavia to return in 2025. The NCAA is appealing that decision, but on Monday issued a waiver for any athlete in Pavia’s situation — eligibility expiring due to some amount of JUCO participation — to return with additional eligibility for the 2025-26 academic year (assuming good standing otherwise).

This is big news for current athletes and for the future. Potentially, anyway. It’s important to remember that the waiver applies only to next season, with the NCAA presumably waiting for clarity on Pavia’s case before taking further action (or not). But it’s not inconceivable that the NCAA (or the courts) could eventually decide to permanently amend its long-standing rule that junior-college participation should count against NCAA eligibility. (As an aside: if that happens, how far are we from unlimited eligibility in college athletics?)

Should that day come — and should it come at some point in the relatively near future — it would have ramifications for several current or incoming UW football players.

Here’s which scholarship players it could impact — beginning with those actually covered by the waiver — and what eligibility could look like if we assume additional changes in the future.

• CB Thaddeus Dixon

Dixon is pretty obviously the first player who comes to mind. He spent two seasons at Long

Beach City College, in 2021-22, before transferring to Washington as a junior in 2023. He won a starting job as a senior — or should that be “senior?” — this season and became one of the Huskies’ top defensive players. Monday’s ruling clears the way for his return in 2025, if that’s what he wants to do. (Dixon might feel like he’s better off going pro, but I’d bet UW would make it worth his while to stay.) If we assume Pavia’s case turns out in the quarterback’s favor — and/or the NCAA caves, whichever comes first — you have to believe there is a world in which a player in Dixon’s position could actually have eligibility through 2026, because that would be his fourth NCAA season. As it is, there is now at least a possibility that UW could return both of its starting cornerbacks next season.

• TE Quentin Moore

Forget about whether the NCAA might grant Moore an injury waiver for 2024; the JUCO waiver now guarantees he can return in 2025. What will be more interesting is what happens down the road. Originally a member of the 2019 recruiting class, Moore spent the 2019 season at Independence Community College and eventually transferred to Washington in 2021. He redshirted that year, then played in 2022 and 2023 before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in this season’s opener against Weber State. That means he would have been a fourth-year junior in 2024 without his time in JUCO, so he should be covered for next season. Were JUCO seasons erased from the eligibility equation, though, Moore also could pursue another year via medical waiver for this season — it has long been assumed he would get it — after spraining his MCL on a bizarre play in the second quarter of UW’s season-opening victory over Weber State.

• DB Justin Harrington

Though Harrington barely saw the field on defense and is presumed to be moving on, this ruling still could grant him additional eligibility if he wants it. Harrington, already a seventh-year senior, spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons at Bakersfield College before transferring to Oklahoma. If we wipe out his JUCO experience, Harrington’s eligibility clock wouldn’t have started until 2021, when he redshirted with the Sooners. Harrington also was granted a medical waiver for the 2023 season after tearing his ACL in Oklahoma’s second game. When all is said and done, could a player in his position actually have eligibility through the 2026 season, his ninth since graduating from high school? That’s getting ahead of ourselves, but the waiver does at least give Harrington one more college season if he wants it.

With an eye toward the future

• OL Maximus McCree

This waiver doesn’t actually apply to McCree, because his eligibility isn’t set to expire until next season. We’ll see if that changes. McCree spent the 2020-21 seasons (though 2020 didn’t count) at Iowa Central Community College before transferring to Maryland in 2022. He redshirted that year before leaving school and returning home to care for his parents, thus sitting out the 2023 football season. That means the 2024 season was actually his first full season of NCAA participation. Take out McCree’s JUCO year, and he would be entering his fourth-year junior season in 2025. If you then gave him the 2023 season back, he would have eligibility through 2027.

• DL Bryce Butler

He spent two seasons at Garden City Community College before signing with Arizona last December, then following coach Jedd Fisch and staff to UW. Butler appeared in only three games for the Huskies while redshirting this season, making him a fourth-year junior heading into the 2025 season. Take out his JUCO years, and he’d be a redshirt freshman with eligibility through 2028.

Incoming transfers

• S CJ Christian (Florida International)

Before spending three seasons at FIU, Christian began his career at Iowa Central CC in 2021 (he was teammates with McCree). He confirmed that he received an injury waiver for the season-ending injury he sustained in 2022 (he still played in five games), allowing his transfer to Washington for the 2025 season. That means he didn’t need the JUCO waiver to retain a year of eligibility. It also means he could in theory have eligibility through 2026, if his JUCO year isn’t counted.

• DL Anterio Thompson (Western Michigan)

Thompson began his career at Iowa Western Community College, where he redshirted in 2021 and played in 2022 before one season each at Iowa (2023) and Western Michigan (2024). As such, he’s set to be a fifth-year senior in 2025. Take his JUCO years off the books, and he would have eligibility through 2026.