After appealing to the NCAA, South Carolina linebacker Bam Martin-Scott announced on Friday that he will not return for a seventh college season in 2025, instead opting to declare for the NFL Draft. Just a month ago, it seemed certain that Martin-Scott’s college career was over after the 2024 season. As a sixth-year senior, he would have been out of eligibility after spending two years at Dodge City Community College before transferring to South Carolina in 2021, which was head coach Shane Beamer’s first season.
Then, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s legal case offered a potential breakthrough. Pavia sued the NCAA over its eligibility rules, arguing that his time at a junior college should not count against his Division I eligibility.
In December, Pavia won his case and the NCAA introduced a waiver allowing him and other junior college players to gain another season. The issue for Martin-Scott, however, is that the waiver does not apply to him.
It’s only for athletes who would have used their final year of eligibility during the 2024-25 season and are still within their five-year eligibility clock. Since Martin-Scott started college football in 2019, while Pavia began in 2020, Martin-Scott was caught in a loophole. Although Martin-Scott filed an appeal with the NCAA, supported by South Carolina, the ruling on his appeal had not been issued at the time of his draft declaration.
