Alabama optimistic LB Justin Jefferson will return for fifth year after NCAA ruling
TAMPA, Fla. – The NCAA’s decision to appeal the Diego Pavia court ruling has paved the way for hundreds of former junior college players to see their careers extended an extra year.
Including one from Alabama.
On Monday, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors “granted a waiver to permit student-athletes who attended and competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years to remain eligible and compete in 2025-26 if those student-athletes would have otherwise used their final season of competition during the 2024-25 academic year,” according to Yahoo! Sports.
The decision impacts Alabama linebacker Justin Jefferson, a senior for the Crimson Tide, who started his college career at Pearl River Community College before transferring to Alabama in 2023. Jefferson has spent the last two seasons in Tuscaloosa, played in 11 of the Tide’s games so far and made two starts at inside linebacker entering the ReliaQuest Bowl.
On Friday, Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said Alabama is looking into it.
“I think we’re really optimistic about JJ coming back for next season,” Wommack said. “It’s something that he wants to do. Hopefully, we’ll have some confirmation on that here sooner than later, but it’s all looking like it’s in the right direction right now.”
Jefferson opened the 2024 campaign as Alabama’s No. 3 off-ball linebacker behind Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell but played plenty of first-team snaps. When Lawson went down with a season-ending knee injury, Jefferson stepped into the starting lineup and filled his void as the defense’s signal-caller, wearing the green-dot helmet for communication.
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Jefferson went through Alabama’s Senior Day ceremony believing this would be his last season as a college football player, but the NCAA’s ruling opened the door for one more year. He has Pavia, the Vanderbilt quarterback, to thank, as Pavia sued the NCAA that his season at JUCO should not count. He was granted an injunction that extended his eligibility.
It sounds like Alabama is hoping for the same for Jefferson, which would be big news. The Tide is likely to lose Campbell to the NFL draft, and Lawson has yet to announce his plans for the 2025 season. Alabama signed Colorado transfer Nikhai Hill-Green and three prep linebackers for the upcoming year, but Jefferson’s experience would be a welcome return.
“I think it goes without saying how special that would be for our defense, when you have Jihaad Campbell, Deontae Lawson and Justin Jefferson potentially all walking out the door,” Wommack said, “and now, you have a chance to recoup at least one of those players.”
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