College Question

Hi Jacob
I don't know the answer to your question but barring any other responses, I would suggest you contact the coach of the school where you have an interest in attending for your grad studies and ask ...
I would think if you want money, it will be harder, but if you just want to try-out and be a part of the team, you may get a jersey.
A lot of programs take two-year players as JUCO transfers and it is not unheard of to have fifth year players doing their grad work

If you want it, go for it

Jacob,
I'm assuming that you entered college in the Fall of 2005, and that during your junior and senior years, you didn't practice with the college team, or with any club or travel team.

In that case, you can transfer without sitting out a year by using the Two Year Non-participation Exception (14.5.5.x.x in the the three manuals).

For D1, a player's eligibilty is exhausted after 5 calendar years from the date of first full-time enrollement. (14.2) So Fall 2009/Spring 2010 is the only season in which you would be eligible. There is also a limit of 4 seasons of competition, but that obviously won't be a problem.

For D2 and D3, the rule is slightly different: You have 10 full-time semesters (15 quarters) of eligibility (14.2). You've already used 8, so in principle you could compete for two more years by only enrolling full-time in the spring. However, in order to practice in the fall, you need to be enrolled full-time. So I think practically you have one year of remaining eligibility.

D1 and D2 specifically allow graduate student or postbacculaureate participation (14.1.9), even for transfer students (14.1.9.1). D3 isn't completely clear to me, but it appears at first glance that graduate student participation by transfers isn't allowed. There is no analogous provision to 14.1.9.1 that appears in the D1/D2 manuals.

But don't take my word for it; call the NCAA.

NCAA Manuals