SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- On Saturday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse University guard Nate Kingz joined three of his fellow teammates in being honored before the team's final home game against Pitt. Senior Day festivities are traditionally saved for players in their final season of eligibility. However according to Kingz, his career may not be done just yet.

Following the team's 71-69 overtime loss to Pittsburgh, Kingz spoke to the media about what his next few months could look like.

Back in February, we covered this situation. Here's a little reminder:

Kingz has already been in college for five years, so it was unclear all along if he just wanted to graduate and explore a professional career, or if he wanted to come back. If he does want to come back, there are some hoops to jump through.

Kingz spent his freshman year at an NAIA school, then went to a junior college for his sophomore year and redshirted in his junior year because of injury. He played a redshirt junior year at Oregon State and this year at Syracuse. So, he's already played four years and received a redshirt: The potential extra year of eligibility likely comes from deciding whether those NAIA/JUCO years count against his eligibility clock.

For instance: Former Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia sued the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility after previously playing at junior college.

Per ESPN:

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors on Monday approved a blanket waiver granting an additional year of eligibility to former junior college transfers in similar positions to Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, opening the door for a wave of college athletes across all sports to spend one more year in college athletics.

According to an NCAA memo, the waiver extends an extra year of eligibility in 2025-26 to athletes who previously "competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years" and otherwise would have exhausted their NCAA eligibility following the 2024-25 season.

Kingz seems to fit that criteria. 

Speaking to the media after Saturday's game, here was his exchange with the media:

Kingz: Yeah, me and my team submitted the request, or the waiver to request another year back, so we'll see what happens with that. And so just in the meantime, we'll see what goes down with that.

Reporter: Would you want to stay here?

Kingz: Yeah, of course, yeah, I would definitely stay here. As long as everything, as long as people want me here still and stuff like that, I would definitely see that as an option for sure.

Reporter: So what did you have to do? I'm confused about what did you have to do? Have you already tried to get something going?

Kingz: Yeah, yeah. Alex, Alex Kline (Syracuse University Men's Basketball general manager) and my agent have been helping me with getting the waiver to submit it to the NCAA to request for another year. So I just have to see what they say and then I believe the process of, yeah, just see what they say and then go from there.

Kingz has been an integral part of the Orange's roster in his debut season with the program. In 30 games, Kingz has posted 11.7 points per game and 3.7 rebounds. The 11.7 points ranks only behind Donnie Freeman's team-leading 16.9 points per game. 

While this situation is certainly important, there is still a game to play. Kingz and his teammates will focus on Tuesday's matchup in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament against SMU. Kingz hit the game-winning shot when these two teams faced off at the JMA Wireless Dome in February. The senior guard finished that game with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Tip off is set for Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. ET. Here's how to watch.

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