Can I get more NCAA eligibility if I change my name?

Not really sure, seems like you could make a case to the NCAA seen as you've never competed for a school at all. I would email a few coaches and just see if they could help if you explained your situation.

Of course.

Possible but you need to be careful. Keep us updated if you try. It worked for this guy until he got caught.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2018/10/03/three-felony-charges-lodged-against-25-year-old-who-posed-as-teen-to-play-hoops-for-hillcrest-high/

(satire font) Even better, change your gender, bro. Then nobody will recognize you fo' sho'. And if they do, you can call them bigoted and get the national media behind you to 'just give her/him a chance to do what she/he loves!"

You're welcome.

Go for it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hogue

A guy named Red Hair did that several decades ago. Competed at Adams State and then at Texas Tech. Changed his name from Hispanic to Native American. I may have some of the fact jumbled, but it happened.

Honestly, you could look for some "hardship" options. COVID has granted an automatic 6th year in outdoor to every NCAA D1 athletes if they needed the clock extension to get to their 4 season of competition. I don't know about XC or indoor, but you might have a real shot at one, and only one, outdoor season. If you have a school in mind, I would contact the school compliance officer and get their take, but it was a blanket waiver, so I would imagine it could help in your specific case as well.

I wouldn't know anything about that.

Name changing, as some people have pointed out, isn't really the way to go because there is a legitimate case in some of the other cases... There is, in fact, a blanket waiver for outdoor track, so you should be able to compete at least one season.

Having been a grad transfer who only competed for my senior year of undergrad (as a walk-on), there are a couple loopholes that you can jump through according to the NCAA handbook - I did it myself. You just need to find the one that is right for you. E.g. If you had season ending injury at some point in college before the halfway point of some season (xc, indoor, outdoor), even if you weren't on the team, you would qualify for a medical hardship waiver according to the handbook.

Also, as a follow-up - lying on the form won't actually do anything, because if you go to graduate school, you're going to have a really hard time proving to the NCAA that you were not a full-time student, and your clock begins the moment you become a full-time student, regardless if you compete in a sport, and only stops for 1 of 3 reasons - mormon missions, military duty, and dropping out of college.

NCAA Advice wrote:

Honestly, you could look for some "hardship" options. COVID has granted an automatic 6th year in outdoor to every NCAA D1 athletes if they needed the clock extension to get to their 4 season of competition. I don't know about XC or indoor, but you might have a real shot at one, and only one, outdoor season. If you have a school in mind, I would contact the school compliance officer and get their take, but it was a blanket waiver, so I would imagine it could help in your specific case as well.

The name changing idea was (obviously) a bit of a joke, and I think this is the real answer. If I run D2 I’ll have at least a year of eligibility, plus I might be able to get another season or 2 from Covid/ injury.

I really regret not choosing a college where I could run, but it’s hard for me to complain based on how I’ve progressed since high school. No matter what happens, I know i still have many good years to come with the sport.

nothing ventured, nothing gained wrote:

Possible but you need to be careful. Keep us updated if you try. It worked for this guy until he got caught.

I like to imagine that if I’m caught, it will be because of some excellent LRC journalism. Really, I’m just helping keep the site—and the Brojos—in business