Redshirt Rules in Basketball

A college basketball player can take a redshirt year as long as he follows the guidelines of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A redshirt year allows players to sit out a season and stretch their four seasons of eligibility over a five-year timetable. The NCAA has strict rules for allowing redshirt seasons, and basketball players typically must decide before a season starts whether they want to take a redshirt year.

  1. Voluntary Redshirt Seasons

    • Basketball players must plan their redshirt season in advance, because after they enter any intercollegiate game for even a single play, they are ineligible to be a redshirt that year. Players are eligible for a voluntary redshirt season only if they do not play in any portion of any game in that season.

    Medical Redshirt Seasons

    • In the case of a serious injury or illness, a basketball player can take a redshirt season even if he has participated in games. Players are eligible for a redshirt season under the medical hardship rule if they sustain a season-ending injury or other medical condition, but the NCAA will grant the redshirt year only under two conditions. First, the injury must have happened in the first half of the team's season. Second, the player cannot have played in more than 20 percent of the games on the team's season schedule. The school's athletic conference and the NCAA will request medical documentation before allowing the redshirt season.

    Redshirt Policy for Postgraduate Seasons

    • Because a redshirt year allows basketball players to use four seasons of eligibility over five years, they might end up playing while in graduate school. At Division I schools, men's and women's basketball players can play as graduate students only if they remain with the school where they earned their undergraduate degree and have eligibility remaining from within five years of their initial, full-time enrollment. However, players are often granted waivers to play for a different institution if the graduate degree they are seeking is not offered by their undergraduate institution and permission is granted from the undergraduate institution. At Division II schools, graduate students can change schools and remain eligible to play basketball. Division III players must stay with the school that awarded them their undergraduate degree. However, Division III policy prohibits players from taking redshirt seasons except in the case of a medical hardship.

    Two Redshirt Seasons

    • Basketball players generally must use their four seasons of eligibility in a five-year period, with one redshirt year. The NCAA occasionally grants players the right to extend their playing window to include a sixth year, with two redshirt seasons. This scenario happens only if the player has missed at least two years because of circumstances such as injury or illness. Players do not gain eligibility for a sixth year if they have sat out one of the previous five years voluntarily.