Here's the latest on UTSA center CJ James, who has been pursued by Pitt as a transfer target.
James was expected to visit Pitt today, but I actually don't think that visit happened.
Turns out, James actually isn't eligible to play college football this year. He was a freshman in 2019 at Lackawanna Junior College; under the recent Diego Pavia ruling - and subsequent NCAA reaction - all JUCO players who would have been out of eligibility this year were granted an extra year to play. That would seem to give a player like James eligibility for 2025.
The problem, as I see it, is that James didn't play in 2019. He redshirted that year. He then went to Abilene Christian and played in 2020. That was the Covid year, of course, so he got that year of eligibility back and played the next four seasons - 2021-24 - at New Mexico and UTSA.
The point of the Pavia ruling was that his time in junior college shouldn't count against his eligibility clock. James already used all four years of his eligibility - plus one for the Covid year. So it looks like he is out of eligibility and off the table for Pitt (and all other schools).
That's how I see the situation. I'm still trying to gather more information, but that's the gist of it.
James was expected to visit Pitt today, but I actually don't think that visit happened.
Turns out, James actually isn't eligible to play college football this year. He was a freshman in 2019 at Lackawanna Junior College; under the recent Diego Pavia ruling - and subsequent NCAA reaction - all JUCO players who would have been out of eligibility this year were granted an extra year to play. That would seem to give a player like James eligibility for 2025.
The problem, as I see it, is that James didn't play in 2019. He redshirted that year. He then went to Abilene Christian and played in 2020. That was the Covid year, of course, so he got that year of eligibility back and played the next four seasons - 2021-24 - at New Mexico and UTSA.
The point of the Pavia ruling was that his time in junior college shouldn't count against his eligibility clock. James already used all four years of his eligibility - plus one for the Covid year. So it looks like he is out of eligibility and off the table for Pitt (and all other schools).
That's how I see the situation. I'm still trying to gather more information, but that's the gist of it.
