Florida safety Asa Turner granted extra year of eligibility by NCAA

Florida safety Asa Turner has been granted an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA, coach Billy Napier told reporters on Thursday. He revealed the news at the team’s annual Pro Day. Turner did not work out for NFL scouts at the Pro Day. That was perhaps the first sign he’d been granted another year.

According to Gator Country reporter Nick Marcinko, Turner’s role with the team and injury status is still to be determined. So, there’s at least some degree of ambiguity about what the extra year of eligibility means going forward.

The former Washington safety, who transferred to Florida prior to the 2024 season, suffered a season-ending hamstring injury just one game into year. He did not play again, though the Gators had been hopeful to get him back before year’s end.

“I can tell he’s itching to play,” fellow safety Jordan Castell said of Turner on Oct. 14. “Every week he tells me, ‘Hey, I’m coming back, I’m coming back.’ But he’s got to wait and make sure he’s healed up all the way.”

Turner never did make it back. But now he’ll have an additional season to play before heading to the next level. The veteran safety did go through the team’s Senior Day events in 2024, and for a time, it seemed unlikely that he would apply for a medical redshirt. That obviously changed at some point, as Turner sought an additional year of eligibility from the NCAA.

While at Washington, Asa Turner had a considerable impact. He played in 12 games as a true freshman in 2019, starting five of them. He would go on to play in 43 games for the Huskies. He recorded 148 total tackles, 7.0 tackles for a loss, six interceptions, eight passes defended and a fumble recovery.

Should Turner return to the fold for Florida as an active member of the secondary, he’ll be a veteran in a unit that uncovered a lot of young talent last fall. There will be healthy competition for snaps.