Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs will tip off the 2025-26 college basketball season in just 45 days when they host Texas Southern on Monday, Nov. 3, at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Whether the Zags will play that game, or any game this season, with Grand Canyon transfer wing Tyon Grant-Foster remains to be seen.
Grant-Foster committed to Gonzaga out of the transfer portal back on May 28. At the time, both parties knew a waiver from the NCAA was necessary for the 6’7 wing to suit up in 2025-26. May turned to June, which turned to July, and August, and now here in late September — a few weeks into the fall semester — there are still no publicly available answers about Grant-Foster’s status for this season.
“We’re still waiting on it right now,” Grant-Foster said back in July. “Just a waiting process. That’s all.”
The NCAA is likely looking into multiple different factors regarding Grant-Foster’s eligibility, including his age (he’ll be 26 in March), his status as a junior college player, COVID eligibility, and, of course, the litany of injuries that have held the Kansas City native back in his unique career.
However, while the situation is certainly atypical, the case for Grant-Foster doesn’t seem that complicated either.
The high-scoring guard began his career at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, playing there in 2018-19 and again in 2019-20. He then transferred to Kansas for his first D1 season, appearing in 22 games in 2020-21 with the Jayhawks.
Feb 2, 2021; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Tyon Grant-Foster (1) grabs a rebound against Kansas State Wildcats forward Seryee Lewis (4). / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
After that, he transferred again and landed at DePaul in the Big East, but at halftime of his first game with the Blue Demons, Grant-Foster collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. He ended up collapsing again a few months later, and missed the rest of the 2021-22 season and all of 2022-23 before making a full recovery and landing at Grand Canyon ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Grant-Foster then had the best season of his career, a triumphant return to the court after a life-threatening condition that culminated in him winning WAC Player of the Year by averaging 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game for the ‘Lopes. He returned to Phoenix for 2024-25, appearing in 26 games thanks to an ankle injury that limited him late in the year.
The NCAA issued a blanket waiver last December, granting athletes who spent at least one year at the junior college level another year of eligibility, which has been used by hundreds of athletes nationally, including former Gonzaga forward Michael Ajayi, who will play his fifth year of college hoops this upcoming season at Butler.
GCU Lopes guard Tyon Grant-Foster is introduced before a game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on Nov. 19, 2023. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The blanket waiver — combined with the fact that Grant-Foster’s 2020-21 season at Kansas should not count against him due to the COVID-19 pandemic — makes a pretty clear case for Grant-Foster to be eligible to play for Gonzaga this upcoming season.
If you count one of Grant-Foster’s junior college years, plus his two seasons at Grand Canyon, you still have one more year to play with. The half a basketball game he played across two years enrolled at DePaul means neither of those years should count — obviously — and unless the NCAA is going to retroactively count the Kansas season, which could set them up for a lawsuit, there’s not an obvious reason he has yet to receive a waiver.
Yes, his age is relevant, and yes, the NCAA is probably right to look long and hard at situations where a player is competing against athletes 5+ years younger than him, but Grant-Foster would hardly be the only player his age still playing college hoops.
Mar 24, 2024; Spokane, WA, USA; Grand Canyon Antelopes guard Tyon Grant-Foster (7) dunks the ball pressured by Alabama Crimson Tide forward Nick Pringle (23) in the second half at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. / James Snook-Imagn Images
Chad Baker-Mazara is two months older than Grant-Foster and began his career at Duquesne in the 2020-21 season. He played at San Diego State in 2021-22, then at a junior college in 2022-23, then at Auburn in 2023-24 and 2024-25. He transferred again this offseason and is set to play for USC, where he will be eligible despite his age and the fact that he has played 119 career games at the D1 level — 36 more than the 83 played by Grant-Foster.
Or how about Devan Cambridge, who has played 141 career games dating back to 2019, yet was approved for a seventh year of eligibility, which he will spend at Central Florida. Or Duke Miles — a one-time target of Gonzaga’s in the transfer portal — who will suit up for Texas A&M this year after three years at Troy, one year at High Point, and last year spent at Oklahoma, a career that includes 116 career games played.
Grant-Foster’s situation is unique — undoubtedly — but it is coming up on four months since he announced his commitment to Gonzaga. The NCAA’s incredibly slow pace has prevented the 6’7 guard from acclimating himself to his new teammates and coaching staff, and for an institution that prides itself on the student part of student-athlete, the NCAA hardly seems concerned that Grant-Foster is unable to attend classes while waiting for a decision.
Mar 21, 2024; Spokane, WA, USA; Grand Canyon Antelopes guard Tyon Grant-Foster (7) during practice at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. / James Snook-Imagn Images
At this point, even an approved waiver puts Gonzaga and Grant-Foster in a tricky situation. NCAA rules require a player to be enrolled full-time in order to be eligible to compete — even if they are in grad school — and every day that goes by makes it harder and harder to see how Grant-Foster would be able to suit up before the second semester begins in January.
Grant-Foster is projected to start at small forward for Gonzaga this upcoming season, alongside returning big men Braden Huff and Graham Ike, fellow transfer Adam Miller from Arizona State, and point guard Braeden Smith.
Virginia transfer Jalen Warley would likely step into the starting role if Grant-Foster is unable to suit up, with Emmanuel Innocenti, Steele Venters, and incoming freshmen Mario Saint-Supery and Davis Fogle all capable of playing on the perimeter for coach Few as well.
Still, no one quite has the combination of experience, downhill scoring ability, and defensive prowess Grant-Foster does, and he is expected to be a huge part of Gonzaga’s final season in the WCC — if the NCAA will let it happen.
MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS