The University of Hawaii football team was entering the final month of the 2025 regular season, and head coach Timmy Chang was studying performance charts.

The NCAA permitted a player to qualify for a redshirt year if he did not participate in more than four regular-season games. Chang and his staff had to decide whether to hold out redshirt-minded players so they would be available to play in the final one or two games without exceeding the limit. Or the players could burn the redshirt hope by playing in more than four games.

“Those were tough decisions,” Chang said.

On Tuesday, the NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved the so-called “5-for-5” rule. The model calls for a student-athlete to have five years of eligibility during a five-year span. The rule will eliminate the redshirt year and most waivers (for injury, illness or extenuating circumstance, such as caring for a family member).

The eligibility clock would start when a student-athlete enrolls full time in college or at age 19, whatever comes first. The age minimum was set to accommodate student-athletes who spend a post-high school year at a preparatory academy. The clock would pause for active-duty military service or religious mission.

The rule will be implemented ahead of the 2027-28 academic year.

“It does clear up some gray area,” Chang said. “It also puts the age in perspective, from 18 or 19 to 22- to 23- year-olds. I like it because it puts parameters around what college athletics is about.”

The ruling would have been helpful to former UH quarterback Brayden Schager, who petitioned for a waiver that would have allowed him to play as a fifth-year senior in 2025. Schager forfeited a redshirt in 2021 when he was summoned to play in a fifth game as a one-drive replacement for injured quarterback Chevan Cordeiro. Todd Graham, who was UH’s head coach in 2021, wrote a testimonial letter accepting blame and insisting Schager should not have lost the redshirt opportunity.

UH coaches also are seeking further interpretation of the starting date for the 5-for-5 clock. If the rule were in effect last year, kicker Kansei Matsuzawa and punter Billy Gowers probably would not have been eligible. Matsuzawa, who grew up in Japan, was 22 when he enrolled at Hocking College in 2021. If the 5-for-5 rule had been in place, Matsuzawa’s NCAA eligibility would have expired at the end of his first UH season in December 2023. Australia-reared Gowers, a former Australian rules player, was a 29-year-old freshman at the start of the 2025 season. Based on their strong 2025 season, Matsuzawa signed a free-agent deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. Gowers transferred to defending national champ Indiana.

There is little concern about the new starting dates for international basketball players. According to a coach, in this one-and-done era, a player with advanced international experience and, say, two or three years of NCAA eligibility, would be welcomed.

UH baseball coach Rich Hill said he also is seeking fuller interpretation of the new rule. But it appears the rule would provide leverage in negotiations. Players are eligible for the Major League Baseball draft after their junior years. Now drafted players can use the option of returning to school for a fourth or fifth year in contract talks.

UH coaches are hopeful there still will be extensions for players who suffer season-ending injuries or incur family emergencies.

Former UH basketball guard Juan Munoz famously had eight years of NCAA eligibility after suffering two ACL tears and an Achilles injury. He also received a COVID-year exemption. Munoz is starting his second year as the Rainbow Warriors’ director of player development.

As far back as 2006, UH football players have made use of injury exemptions to extend their college careers. That year, running back Nate Ilaoa and safety Leonard Peters were each granted a sixth year because of season-ending injuries.

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COLUMBUS — The Ohio State University national championship-winning football coach Jim Tressel is set to be enshrined on the C-Deck Ring of Honor at Ohio Stadium Sept. 5.

The Buckeyes host Ball State in their season opener at 12:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on BTN.

Tressel becomes the third coach to be honored at Ohio Stadium, joining Paul Brown (1941–43) and Woody Hayes (1951–78).

He also becomes the first person added to the Ring of Honor since 2014, when one of his quarterbacks and 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith was placed on the C-Deck.

Tressel took over in 2001 and continued Ohio State’s legacy as a perennial national contender.

During his tenure, the Buckeyes won at least 10 games in six seasons and reached the BCS Title Game three times, winning the national championship in the 2002 season.

That signature year featured an undefeated 14–0 run, as Ohio State downed top-ranked Miami 31–24 in double overtime for the national title.

Ohio State also played in the BCS National Championship Game twice more during his tenure (2006, 2007).

Across his decade leading the Buckeyes, Ohio State made a bowl each season and played in eight BCS games.

Tressel’s Ohio State teams went 9–1 against Michigan, including a 2010 game that was later vacated by the NCAA.

In addition to Smith’s Heisman Trophy during Tressel’s tenure, he coached 67 NFL Draft picks, including 14 first-round selections, 57 first team All-Big Ten selections, 24 first team All-America selections, and eight Academic All-Americans.

After leading Ohio State to one of the most successful eras in program history, Tressel was President of Youngstown State University, and has served as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio since 2025.

Through the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge, he continues to do what he has always done best — coach young people to become stronger mentally, physically, and emotionally so they can reach their full potential.

Jun. 23—The University of Alaska Anchorage has hired Michael Bazemore as its new athletic director, the school said Tuesday.

Bazemore spent the last five years as athletic director at Montana State-Billings, which competes with UAA in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

"I am extremely excited to join the Seawolves family," Bazemore said in a statement released by the university. "I would like to thank Chancellor (Cheryl) Siemers, the administration, coaches, student-athletes, and supporters for this appointment. Throughout my journey within the GNAC, I have always had a respect for UAA and the level of competitive excellence displayed. I look forward to not only contributing to this standard, but helping to elevate it."

Bazemore replaces Ryan Swartwood, who was the UAA athletic director from 2022 to 2025. Tanya Pont, UAA's vice chancellor for university advancement and athletics, has served as acting athletic director since Swartwood's resignation in October.

Prior to his work at MSU Billings, Bazemore held several positions in college athletics. He was the assistant director of academic and membership affairs for the NCAA at its national office in Indianapolis.

He also worked in athletic departments at Metropolitan State University, Truman State University and the University of Sioux Falls.

According to UAA, the athletic department at MSU Billings maintained a 3.2 departmental grade-point average during his tenure and graduated more than 85% of eligible student-athletes annually.

"Michael's vision, leadership and breadth of experience at all levels of intercollegiate athletics make him an outstanding choice to lead Seawolf Athletics," Siemers said in a statement. "His familiarity with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and his deep expertise in compliance position him to make an immediate impact at UAA. As a former student-athlete, he understands firsthand what it takes to support our Seawolves in competition, in the classroom and beyond."

Bazemore earned two undergraduate degrees from Michigan State University, where he played on the football team. He also has a Master of Science in sport, recreation and fitness management from MSU Billings.

According to the university, Bazemore and his family — wife Jaime, daughter Maxi and son Major — will move to Anchorage this summer.

Bazemore is UAA's 10th athletic director since the school gained NCAA member status in 1977. He will start on July 19 and will report to Pont.