Could now-former Syracuse basketball alum JJ Starling and William Kyle III eye a return to college basketball this season? 

In theory yes, though no such reports have circulated, so this is more just speculation and fun at the moment.

How could this happen? Well, let's break it down.

Sometimes called the '5-in-5' rule, this rule gives a player five years to play five seasons in their sport, from the time they enroll in college, or after their 19th birthday, whatever comes first.

For instance, an athlete who goes the traditional US path from high school to college, would get five years to play five seasons.

Should a player sit out, get injured, or redshirt, they are not given an extra year. They will just have four more years of eligibility remaining.

However, if a player enters college after the age of 19, like many Division I hockey players do, they will actively be using up college eligibility before arriving on campus. 

Well, athletes who are returning to campus this season are being given an extra year of eligibility. For instance, someone who enrolled in college last fall and played in their freshman season, would still have four years of eligibility remaining.

However, athletes who graduated in 2026, from the high school Class of 2022, were not given this exemption. They simply played four seasons in four years and graduated.

A group of now-graduated seniors, including five Syracuse lacrosse players, have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking to get a fifth year of eligibility.

For the moment, a judge has granted a preliminary injunction against the NCAA, which would make all high school Class of 2022 athletes eligible for a fifth year in the upcoming academic year.

The NCAA is appealing, but all this needs to be decided quickly, as the fall sports schedule begins in just two weeks.

Again, this is more just speculation and fun at the moment. But Starling and Kyle were both 2022 high school graduates who wrapped up their Syracuse careers this past season. 

If this injunction is held up, both players could come back for a fifth year, as they played just four seasons in four years. Starling played three years at Syracuse after one at Notre Dame while Kyle played just one at SU, after two years at South Dakota State and one at UCLA.

For starters, do Kyle and Starling even want to come back? Do they have professional opportunities in basketball? Outside of basketball? Do they consider those better than a fifth year at Syracuse?

Then, does Syracuse even have room for them? New head coach Gerry McNamara has done a good job filling out his roster with players from the transfer portal. He hasn't planned for any players to return.

How would players who came to SU expecting to play feel about this? Would they feel differently about coming to Central New York if these roster spots were re-occupied? 

These are all things to think about, for all programs, at all schools.