BYU Football is Waiting on Decisions From a Few Former JUCO Players
Back in December, a Tennessee judge granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA in favor of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia. Pavia, who played two years in the JUCO ranks, was a senior in 2024 and playing what was believed to be his final season of eligibility. Pavia sued the NCAA, claiming that his years in JUCO shouldn’t count against his NCAA eligibility.
The judge ruled in favor of Pavia, granting him additional eligibility. After the ruling, the NCAA granted a blanket waiver to all former JUCO players, granting them an additional year of eligibility in 2025. Initially, there were five former BYU players that appeared to be eligible to receive another year of eligibility:
Darius Lassiter – WR
Caleb Etienne – OL
Mory Bamba – CB
Hinckley Ropati – RB
Ray Paulo – TE
Typically, decisions to either leave for the NFL or return for another year are made in early January when classes are starting.
Up until this week, none of the five former JUCO players had announced their plans for 2025. On Wednesday, Caleb Etienne declared for the NFL Draft. Why did it take so long for one of the former JUCO players to announce their plans for 2025?
As details are emerging about the blanket waiver, it turns out there are caveats to the waiver. Arizona offensive lineman Flavio Gonzalez shed some light on the situation in a post on “X”, claiming the waiver does not apply to those players that were given an additional year of eligibility during COVID. It was initially believed that Gonzalez was eligible in 2025. He even entered the transfer portal and transferred to Arizona. It wasn’t until this past week that he learned his waiver was denied.
When it comes to BYU players waiting this long to announced their plans, perhaps the gray area in the NCAA waiver was the reason for the delay. Etienne, for example, was seen on social media working out with the team, a sign that he was probably leaning towards returning to BYU before the NCAA waiver situation started to unfold.
As of Saturday morning, BYU is still waiting on official decisions from former JUCO players like BYU wide receiver Darius Lassiter and cornerback Mory Bamba. The delay in their decisions is likely driven by the uncertainty surrounding the waivers.
Lassiter played at Butler Community College in the Spring of 2021, the season that was pushed to the Spring due to COVID. On paper, Lassiter’s situation looks similar to that of Flavio Gonzalez.
In an interview with BYU Sports Nation, BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill said “Mory Bamba is back [in 2025], hopefully.”
Hinckley Ropati was at BYU in 2020, so it appears he already benefitted from the extra year of eligibility and would not be eligible in 2025. However, his situation might be unique due to injuries. Ropati has suffered multiple season-ending injuries which made him eligible for a medical hardship waiver in the past. It’s unclear how the NCAA will rule in a situation like that.
Stay tuned for updates on these players in the coming weeks.