Last week, the Kansas men’s basketball program announced that, thanks to some legal and eligibility rulings working out in his favor, former KU forward Tre White, who is now current again, was returning to school for a fifth year of college eligibility with the Jayhawks.
On Monday, KU football coach Lance Leipold announced that his team had added two players through the same channels — defensive lineman Clifton Thompson and running back Chase Belcher.
Both already are on campus. Both, as of today, will be eligible to play immediately and throughout the rest of the 2026 season, which continues this week at 11 a.m. Saturday, when the 1-2 Jayhawks play host to Middle Tennessee at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
And both represent KU further dipping its toes into the waters of finding a way to utilize players who had left college under the NCAA’s new 5-in-5 eligibility model and now are seeking a return.
Lawsuits, temporary restraining orders, appeals and injunctions all have factored into how — and how often — these players, men and women in several sports, have become eligible for the current school year.
And it’s these holdovers that are the most interesting part of the eligibility puzzle right now. As we move into the future, the 5-in-5 rule, which allows every athlete that wants it five years of eligibility and essentially eliminates redshirts, should be pretty cut and dry.
But navigating the four-year athletes who just said goodbye to their respective colleges has proven to be another source of mass chaos for the NCAA.
Not as much for the individual programs, though.
Leipold made it clear on Monday that he and his coaching staff had always been open to the idea of bolstering their roster with these types of players. And injuries and needs at running back and along the D-line inspired Kansas to act.
“It’s hard to tell (how it’s going to go) at this stage of it,” Leipold said Monday. “But when the opportunity, by rule and roster slots, presented itself in areas we were banged up, we decided to make this move. Both young men got in this weekend (and are) going through the acclimatization periods that are gonna be needed.”
Of all people, KU baseball coach Dan Fitzgerald, who talked with the media about his team’s fall schedule and offseason immediately after Leipold’s presser on Monday, summed the whole thing up perhaps better than anyone could.
Like Leipold, like Bill Self, like Brandon Schneider and like coaches in all sports across the country, Fitzgerald is also exploring adding to his roster by pulling from the past.
But as he so clearly pointed out, Fitz and the KU baseball program have one major advantage over all of them.
“We’re in the middle of it right now,” Fitzgerald said. “Still trying to figure it out for the spring. Thankfully, we’ve got some time. These fall sports, they’re up against it and we’ve got time. Certainly, we are always looking for every avenue to improve our roster.”
There are so many elements and factors that go into adding these types of players, be it mid-season or before yours even begins. Not the least of which is the academic side of things.
But the academic support given to these programs is top notch, and there are people employed to make sure class schedules are optimized and athletes are given every tool they need to be eligible. So, even though we’re a month into the school year, that’s still not too deep into it to cause any problems.
And that’s great news for Leipold. Particularly at running back, where the Jayhawks lost Yasin Willis for an unknown period of time — Leipold said Monday he’s probably leaning toward Willis not returning this season after foot surgery last week — and already were down a couple of backs in the first place.
So, Belcher will likely be needed. Heck, defensive back Khi Cummings-Coleman, who had played a lot of snaps in the secondary for the Jayhawks through three games, moved to running back this week.
“We’ll continue to evaluate that situation to add to the depth in that room,” Leipold said of the KU RBs. “It’s pretty early at this time, but we hope that they (Belcher and Thompson) can contribute in some way as they progress here in the upcoming weeks.”
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