The UAAP is set to put an end to the era of immediate eligibility for graduate transfers, with master’s student-athletes required to serve a one-year residency before competing beginning Season 90.
The prospective change, announced by UAAP executive director Atty. Rebo Saguisag during the league’s Season 89 press conference, is aimed at addressing what has become popularly known as the “Troy Rike rule” — the one-and-done pathway that has allowed graduates from outside the UAAP to enroll in a member school and compete immediately.
“We’re trying to address the so-called one-and-done phenomenon. It was legislated some time last year, but it will be prospective in nature,” Saguisag said.
Rike became the first prominent player to take advantage of the provision when he joined National University for UAAP Season 81 after completing his collegiate stint at Wake Forest in the United States.
The 6-foot-7 forward suited up for the Bulldogs as a graduate student, opening a route that would later be followed by a number of other players who had already completed their undergraduate careers elsewhere.
By Season 82, the men’s basketball tournament featured several one-and-done players across the league.
De La Salle University had Jamie Malonzo, Keyshawn Meeker, and James Laput, while University of the East brought in Rey Suerte and Jed Mendoza. Adamson University had Val Chauca, the University of the Philippines had Jaybie Mantilla, and NU had Kelly Hayes.
The trend was not limited to basketball, either. Other UAAP sports also saw graduate transfers immediately compete for their new schools, including Perpetual Help’s Des Clemente, who suited up for La Salle in Season 81.
Under the current rules, an athlete who has already graduated from a university outside the UAAP can enroll in another member institution and compete immediately, as long as the player satisfies the league’s other eligibility requirements.
That provision was introduced in 2016 following the implementation of the K to 12 education system, which temporarily disrupted the traditional supply of college freshmen as the first batches of students under the expanded basic education program moved through the system.
The measure subsequently created an avenue for graduates from outside the UAAP to pursue further studies while continuing their athletic careers.
That era, however, is nearing its end.
Starting Season 90, any athlete who has already graduated from a university and transfers into a UAAP school will have to spend a year in residence before gaining competition eligibility.
“Any athlete who has graduated from any university, once they transfer, has to sit out one year. The rationale is that the board wanted, somehow, for the student-athletes to inculcate the culture of their respective schools before they compete,” Saguisag explained.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
The residency period is intended to ensure that graduate transfers become part of their new school’s community and identity before representing the institution in UAAP competition.
“They should know what Igma Kadima of UE means. Or what it means to be a ‘klasmeyt’ at Adamson. Or for FEU, what it means to be actually brave. So they’ll sit out one year, get inculcated in the culture, and play next year,” Saguisag added.
Season 89 will therefore be the final season in which graduate transfers can use the current immediate-eligibility provision before the new residency requirement takes effect.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
The UAAP will also introduce a new policy for foreign student-athletes this season, allowing each school to carry two FSAs in its pool, although only one may be listed on the active roster for a game.
Schools must declare which of their two foreign student-athletes will be active one hour before tip-off.
Season 89 officially opens on September 12 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena with a kickoff show headlined by Vice Ganda and Gloc-9.
Men’s basketball begins the following day at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, with host Far Eastern University facing Adamson at noon, defending champion De La Salle taking on National University at 2:30 p.m., and University of the Philippines meeting University of Santo Tomas at 6 p.m.
The women’s basketball tournament starts on September 26.
