College Sports Is The Wild West: Pro Hockey Players Given Eligibility To Play NCAA This Season

College sports are the wild west right now. From NIL, to the transfer portal, to now allowing professional athletes eligibility to play in the NCAA. Let me introduce you to Connor McClennon and Hudson Thornton, two new student-athletes for the Bemidji State Hockey Team. McLennon, a sixth-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2020, played 8 AHL games and 1 ECHL game last season and dman Hudson Thornton played 49 ECHL games and 1 AHL game. Usually, once you play a professional game, you lose all eligibility. That isn’t the case anymore.

How did this happen? Was this the first instance of a pro player being allowed to play in college? In July, the basketball team at the University of Tennessee announced they will be adding Ethan Burg, a guard who last played for the Israeli Basketball Super League, and once that was announced…the flood gates opened.

Stick taps to Bemidji State. Talk about having some balls. In a world where it is becoming incredibly difficult to compete with the big dogs of the NCAA who have bags and bags of money, a bold move like this is exactly what a small school like Bemidji needed. 

I believe two things will come from this. First, the NCAA needs to outline what are the exact rules on what does or doesn’t grant a player eligibility. In the article above it says “For each kid, it comes down to the finite details,” Serratore said of the NCAA Eligibility Center’s clearing process. “For the people on the eligibility side, it’s all about their assessment, how they think and what they feel.” I need it in black and white. I don’t really think its fair to say “its about how they think and what they feel”. So they are likely going to need to make it more black and white. The concept isn't really isn't much different than CHL players getting eligbility. It's just a bit weird that they jumped up to the AHL and are allowed to go back to college hockey. 2nd I think you’re going to see a whole lot more 22-24 year olds playing in the NCAA. It’s not about going pro either. It’s about using hockey to get an education after realizing hockey isn’t going to make you money in the long run. So shoutout to these guys.