Former Texas Tech Transfer Jaylon Tyson Denied NCAA Waiver to Play at Cal

Former Texas Tech transfer Jaylon Tyson, who left the program to transfer to Cal following former head coach Mark Adams’ resignation after allegations he suggested Tyson behave as his slave was informed yesterday that his appeal for immediate eligibility was denied by the NCAA.

A waiver is required by the NCAA for any second-time transfer who has not completed their degree. For many years, waivers were regularly granted often on the basis of a player claiming to need to be near an ailing relative.  Earlier this year, the NCAA decided to tighten up this criterion, limiting appeals to medical or safety concerns that necessitated a transfer. 

Denny Medley/USA TODAY/Reuters/Fil

Former Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams

In a statement to ESPN, the NCAA said, "On January 11, the Division I Council -- which includes a voting representative from each Division I conference -- voted unanimously to significantly tighten the criteria for undergraduate students who transfer for a second time to be granted a waiver to play immediately." As a result of the DI Council vote, multiple-time transfers who cannot demonstrate and adequately document a personal need for medical or safety reasons to depart the previous school are not eligible to compete immediately following their second undergraduate transfer. National office staff, at the direction of NCAA members, have begun applying those criteria for multiple-time transfers for the 2023-24 academic year."

Tyson shined in his prep career at John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas, leading his team to a state championship as a junior and earning a ranking as the number 34 prospect in the nation by Rivals, number 35 by 247 Sports Composite & number 42 by ESPN after averaging 22.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists & 2.1 steals per game as a senior.

The 6’7 forward began his collegiate career at Texas in the fall of 2021 before transferring to Texas Tech in December of the same year.

In March of 2023, Texas Tech suspended head coach Adams for what the university called an “inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment” that was made to Tyson after allegations that Adams quoted a bible verse telling the player to see him as his master and the player as his slave. There was also a separate incident earlier in the season the school is investigating in which Adams spit on a player.

“I can spit on you whenever I want to,” one person close to the situation stated that Adams said to the player involved.

Adams surprisingly was not fired and instead received $4M in severance after being forced to resign later that week and is now currently employed as the head coach at East Carolina University.

Meanwhile, Jaylon Tyson, seeking to escape the obvious racially-charged toxicity of Texas Tech for a safer environment was denied in his appeal by the NCAA to resume his career at Cal without having to sit out a season. In any rational world, it’s hard to imagine the incident(s) not being considered the definition of an unsafe environment, particularly and profoundly since Tyson was the player who was physically and verbally assaulted by Adams.

“Last year, I was racially discriminated against on multiple occasions. I was called a slave, and that Mark Adams was my master,” Tyson told Sports Illustrated. “When he said that I kind of froze and went down a dark path in my life that I had never [experienced] before. It was very embarrassing for me and my family to have to go through this process.”

texastech.com

Clearly, no player should have to choose between sitting out a year or remaining at a university that allowed this type of behavior to be excused with a public statement from their athletic director stating that “Adams was encouraging the student-athlete to be more receptive to coaching and referenced Bible verses about workers, teachers, parents, and slaves serving their masters. ” 

Adding another layer of complication to the matter, the state of Texas has been moving away from DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) protections, setting up a situation where a coach can receive a multi-million dollar golden parachute and a new head coaching job after committing an egregious pair of offenses that would easily justify termination for cause without financial compensation, while at the same time, a student-athlete of color has to sit out a year to get away from a racially toxic environment to further his career.

Cal has appealed the decision and a decision is expected on that appeal by the end of next week. In what should seemingly be an open-and-shut appeal, the answer cannot come soon enough. And should that answer be no, don’t expect Cal to take the response sitting down. Far from it, in fact. 

Story addendum:

In this afternoon’s press conference, Cal head coach Mark Madsen addressed Tyson’s denied waiver request, expressing disappointment with the decision and confidence that there is enough evidence so see a reversal of the waiver denial.

"The NCAA has set forth the criteria," Madsen said. "I've looked at the waiver material. I've been looking at it for months. And obviously, It will be extremely important for Jaylon Tyson to be granted this second waiver, not only for himself but for every other student-athlete who finds himself in a situation like this. In the future,

"As far as why a waiver is denied, I do not have the information to talk about that, because I wasn't in the decision-making room. But as far as why it should be approved, I've seen the content of the material in the waiver. And I believe that this falls within the guidelines that the NCAA has set forth, 

"I'm extremely hopeful that they will (approve the appeal) because of what Jaylon experienced in previous situations, so I'm extremely hopeful that whatever reasons factored into the denial of Jaylon's waiver, I'm truly hopeful that people will look at this very objectively and say, 'Okay, we need to take a hard look because if you set this precedent, that is not a good precedent to set.'"