The NCAA is on the verge of making significant and generational changes to the way its Division I schools, including all six in the state of Utah, deal with the eligibility of their student-athletes.
The age-based eligibility model, as the NCAA prefers to call it, would give athletes five full years to compete in Division I, starting immediately after their high school graduation or 19th birthday, whichever comes first.
The next vote on the matter is scheduled for Friday, and most experts agree that the proposals will be implemented soon, but would not apply retroactively to any student-athletes who have completed their eligibility under current NCAA rules (four seasons of competition in five years) by spring of 2026.
Certainly, the missionary program is of utmost importance to us — men and women, across the board. It is a priority. And so certainly having an exemption for missions is one of the exemptions that is super important to us.
— BYU athletic director Brian Santiago
“If you’ve used up your eligibility, you’ve used it up,” NCAA President Charlie Baker told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on April 27 when the NCAA’s Division I board of directors directed the Division I cabinet to keep the proposal alive for the vote this Friday.
It has commonly been called the “five-for-five rule,” but the NCAA has said that the age-based model is separate and distinct from the five seasons in five years concept that took root last summer because that terminology incorrectly implies that all student-athletes will be guaranteed five years of NCAA eligibility.
That is not necessarily true for all prospects.
Obviously, the proposal has garnered heavy interest in Utah and among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a faith that is known for sending young men on two-year missions and young women on 18-month missions.
That missionary service is often performed before, or during, the missionary’s college years, and previously student-athletes who serve missions have received an exemption from the NCAA so those years don’t count against their eligibility, and the five-year “clock” on their eligibility doesn’t run while they are serving.
There have also been exemptions for pregnancy and active-duty military service.
Will the exemptions continue if the NCAA advances the age-based eligibility concept, as expected?
The NCAA recently responded to a Deseret News inquiry seeking clarification on that particular aspect of the proposed legislation, confirming that “yes, there are currently three exceptions expected to be included” if the age-based model is ultimately adopted and “those exceptions would include religious missions, pregnancy and active-duty military service.”
As Thamel noted on April 27 after his telephone discussion with Baker, the Division I cabinet continues to discuss the exact parameters around those exceptions, and it is too soon to speculate whether there will be other exceptions for other cases or specific sports.
Nearly half of BYU’s football players serve missions
Understandably, BYU officials are keeping a close eye on the process.
In an August 2025 report on the BYUCougars.com website, associate athletic director for communications and media strategy Jon McBride wrote that 56 players on the school’s 2025 football roster had served missions — in 22 different countries, and spoke 10 different languages.
In 2023, 65 BYU football players on that year’s roster had served missions, in 29 different countries. They spoke 15 different languages. In 2024, 55 football players had served missions in 32 different countries.
Because of the interruption of their careers for missionary service, many BYU student-athletes do not leave the school until six or seven years after their high school graduations, a practice that could be curtailed if the missionary exemption is not given, or is altered.
While returned missionaries remain a staple of the BYU football program, the BYU men’s basketball program has included fewer and fewer returned missionaries the past few years. Of the 17 players on the 2025-26 roster, only three — seniors Richie Saunders, Jared McGregor and Dawson Baker — served missions. Only four — add sophomore Brody Kozlowski to this list — are members of the faith.
Unless some new players are added, next year’s basketball roster will include four RMs — Baker, Kentucky transfer Collin Chandler, Utah/Clemson transfer Jake Wahlin and TCU transfer Adam Stewart.
BYU officials confident exceptions will continue
In a wide-ranging interview with the Deseret News last week, BYU athletic director Brian Santiago said he’s received no indication that any of the three major exemptions would be stricken from the rule.
“It is like everything else in college sports,” Santiago said. “Once they actually vote on it, if it becomes a reality, we will make the necessary adjustments and try to make sure that we are handling it the very best way possible for BYU.
“Certainly, the missionary program is of utmost importance to us — men and women, across the board,” Santiago continued. “It is a priority. And so certainly having an exemption for missions is one of the exemptions that is super important to us. And then we will adjust if it becomes reality.”
Regarding the overall rule that is not expected to include athletes who graduated or exhausted their eligibility in the 2025-26 sports seasons in four years or fewer, Santiago said it should eliminate some confusion and uncertainty.
“It takes a lot of the (gray) area out of it,” he said. “There are so many requests for waivers, for eligibility. This (legislation) takes all that out. It takes all the guesswork out. So I do like that it is moving forward. It is not going to go in arrears. You are not going to have athletes coming back saying, ‘Hey, can we now get an extra year of eligibility?’ Once it goes into effect, it will be moving forward. I do like that.”
College teams in and out of Utah include returned missionaries
BYU is not the only school inside the state of Utah with a high percentage of returned missionaries on its rosters in all sports, obviously. Utah State, Weber State, Utah, Southern Utah and Utah Tech all have plenty as well.
Outside of Utah, large West Coast schools such as Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, USC, Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA have included returned missionaries on their football rosters recently. For instance, former USC tight end Walker Lyons, who has transferred to BYU, served a mission to Norway out of high school before beginning his career with USC.
Had the missionary exception not existed, Lyons’ college career would be over.
Athletic department representatives from both Utah and Utah State declined to comment on the proposed legislation.
“We are awaiting more information and when it’s sorted out or becomes policy we can consider sharing a comment,” wrote Paul Kirk, Utah senior associate athletics director for strategic communications.
Wrote Utah State athletics communications director Doug Hoffman: “With the proposed legislation still being developed, it’s not appropriate for us to comment until it is finalized.”
