Report: NCAA denies Oregon center N'Faly Dante additional year of eligibility

Oregon basketball veteran and elite big man N’Faly Dante has had his waiver to play in the 2024-25 season denied by the NCAA, according to college hoops insider Jon Rothstein. However, the Ducks will appeal that decision.

Rothstein reported news of Dante’s waiver denial on Thursday morning in a tweet, where he also noted Oregon’s plans to appeal. Take a look at his post right here:

“Source: Oregon’s N’Faly Dante has been denied an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA. Dante only played six games during the 20-21 season due to a knee injury. Also only played 12 games in 19-20 when NCAA Tournament was cancelled. The Ducks will appeal the decision.”

The Wichita, KS native was a consensus top-30 player in the 2019 class who picked Oregon over Kentucky and several other top programs. He was rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 26 overall player in that cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.

Beginning his career in the COVID-marred 2019-20 season, Dante fell within the umbrella of players who were all granted an extra season of eligibility thanks to the pandemic. Following 2023-24, though, he’s now played in six seasons.

As noted in the Rothstein tweet, Dante’s case rests on the fact that he missed large portions of two different seasons due to injuries. His freshman season, he appeared in just 12 games, roughly 35% of the season. But in 2020-21, he appeared in only six games. He then would go on to play in 20+ games each of the last three seasons.

So let’s do some math. Dante gets five full seasons of eligibility thanks to the COVID rule. His last three were good full years, which leaves with him with two more. Well, that would mean both his first two seasons, where he played in 12 and then six total games each year, were counted towards his eligibility. If he just gets the NCAA to grant him a medical waiver for that injury-shortened 2021 season, he’ll have another year.

Frankly, you’d be hard-pressed to find a situation like Dante’s where the player didn’t get their extra year. It’s kind of odd, based on his scenario, that the NCAA even denied the waiver in the first place. Perhaps there’s a lot more to the story, but on its surface, Dante seems to have a pretty strong case to play another year.

And another year of him in green and gold would do wonders for Dana Altman in his first season as a Big Ten coach. Dante did average 17 points and nine rebounds per game en route to his second straight All-Pac-12 appearance in 2024. If he returns, a third all-conference selection would be very likely in ’25.