COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Texas A&M guard Bryson Warren’s eligibility waiver request to the NCAA has been denied, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
He will appeal and could fight for eligibility through a lawsuit, according to the source.
The 6-foot-3, 191-pound guard spent the last three seasons in the NBA G League with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and the Westchester Knicks. In his professional career, he averaged 14.2 points and 4.1 assists in 27.6 minutes per game. Warren also hit 37.5% of his 3-point shots.
On April 15, the Division I Cabinet adopted a new set of preenrollment rules requiring high school and international prospects to withdraw from professional league drafts before the deadline to retain their college eligibility. However, this new requirement will only impact players opting in to professional drafts on or after April 15.
“There’s people in his spot that have been declared eligible, obviously, but with all with all these cases, it kind of seems it’s a wait and see by us, just like everybody, to see what gets approved elsewhere,” head coach Bucky McMillan said in mid-July. “So we always have our antennas up, seeing what’s going to happen with these cases with the guys that played last year, trying to get a fifth year, and we’re waiting to see.”
Last season, Thierry Darlan broke the G League-to-NCAA barrier when he left the G League Ignite and joined Santa Clara, a move that was approved by the NCAA. He was deemed to have maintained his amateur status because he was less than five years from high school graduation, was an NCAA qualifier out of high school and did not enter the NBA draft. It is akin to the long-standing NCAA guidance that international prospects with some professional experience can be granted a waiver for eligibility, much like former A&M guard Ruben Dominguez last season.
Other players to take the G League pipeline to the NCAA were Louisville’s London Johnson, BYU’s Abdullah Ahmed and Baylor’s James Nnaji. Alabama’s Charles Bediako also attempted to make the jump, but was ultimately ruled to be ineligible because he had signed a two-way contract with an NBA team.
Warren graduated from Link Academy in 2024, but entered the 2024 NBA draft and ultimately went undrafted. He never signed a two-way contract or played in an NBA game.
If Warren needs a temporary restraining order to become eligible, he would join new A&M transfer Jordan Pope in that endeavor. Pope was granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday as part of a lawsuit fighting the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility model.
Last season, post player Rashaun Agee needed a court injunction to earn an additional year of eligibility to play for the Aggies.
The Aggies open their season on Nov. 3 at home against Alabama State after an exhibition match in Dallas against SMU on Oct. 25.
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