Michigan State’s Rodney Bullard III Deemed Eligible by NCAA

It’s been a confusing time in college sports, with more court rulings and legal battles than ever before.

The latest battle didn’t quite make it to court, but if it had, there may have been a lot of green and white there.

Monday morning, it was announced that Rodney Bullard III, a wide receiver for Michigan State, had been deemed eligible by the NCAA to play a fourth season.

This might sound like a no-brainer, but that was the last thing it truly was.

Originally, the NCAA ruled Bullard ineligible for the season because of a clerical error that accidentally marked him as having too many credits to play college sports this year. Those credits, however, were received while Bullard was enrolled in a two-way program during high school.

It could have, and should have, taken a mere few minutes for the NCAA to realize the error, deem Bullard eligible and let everyone move on. Especially with the injunctions currently being processed that have members of the 2022 high school class receiving notice that they can return to play college sports.

Again, it’s a wild and confusing time in college athletics.

Still, the NCAA did not do the due diligence of fully looking into Bullard’s case. He was marked ineligible, and the situation quickly became much bigger than it ever should have been.

That turned ugly quickly as Spartan players, coaches, media members and fans alike started realizing what was going on, bringing the story to light everywhere they could.

A court hearing was set for Thursday, where Bullard was prepared to defend himself. It sounds like the entire Michigan State team was ready to head to the courthouse and back up their teammate.

Per Bullard, “The team was all ready to pull up at the court and support me. Literally everyone.”

Fortunately for Bullard and Michigan State, it never had to come to that.

Bullard was able to practice throughout the entire process and continue preparing as if he were going to play with the team, which means there should be no ramp-up period for the veteran receiver.

Last season, Bullard caught five passes for 119 yards and one touchdown. His touchdown was a 70-yard catch and run against Minnesota that helped the Spartans maintain a lead for almost the entirety of the game before faltering in the waning moments of the fourth quarter and ultimately in overtime.

With the lack of experience at the wide receiver position and the amount of raw talent within the group, Bullard’s presence will be a delight for the young receivers. It should also be huge for Michigan State’s young quarterback, who now officially has another speedster threat to whip the ball to.

The entire Spartan team was reportedly jumping with joy for Bullard when the news broke during practice, and it just shows how much of a family Pat Fitzgerald is turning this group into.

It was a big day for Michigan State, but especially for Rodney Bullard III.

After an unnecessarily confusing and stressful situation, Bullard can officially focus on football once again.