Make it make sense as to why the NCAA denied Gonzaga transfer Tyon Grant-Foster’s appeal for an eligibility waiver.
He started his first two collegiate basketball years at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, from 2018 to 2020. The NCAA suddenly made it possible for certain college athletes before the start of the 2025-26 season, beginning with Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, to have an extra year of eligibility after playing at the junior college level. The now Heisman Trophy candidate for the Commodores spent his first season with New Mexico Military in 2020, a public junior college.
That’s not the worst of it. After transferring to Kansas for his first season at the Division I level for the 2020-21 season (a COVID-free year, keep in mind), Grant-Foster decided to make another move to DePaul to start the 2021-22 season. This is where he suffered a life-changing collapse during halftime at the opener against Coppin State, a heart scare that would influence the rest of his career.
Grant-Foster didn’t play for the rest of the season, including the following 2022-23 campaign with DePaul. He then pronounced he would transfer once again to Grand Canyon, where he found the furthest capability for success these past two seasons under coach Bryce Drew.
The 6-7 wing was named the 2024 Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, averaging 20.1 points on a 44.6 field goal percentage, 33.1 three-point percentage, and 74.5 free throw percentage to go along with 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game in 34 starts for the Antelopes. He was a back-to-back All-WAC First Team member in 2023-24, 2024-25.
Now, at 25 years old, Grant-Foster’s future is in no-man’s land, adding more confusion for the future Zags’ wing position and coach Mark Few’s staff.
Spokesman-Review’s Theo Lawson reports that a preliminary injunction is in the works (including declarations from multiple NBA general managers who would appreciate some more college basketball film from him), so who knows until the case is settled on Thursday.
The NCAA literally has no soul for someone who will continue to deal with a heart condition for the rest of his life.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho
