The Right Decision: Tristan Smith

Tristan Smith. Photo credit: clemsonsportstalk.com

Over the last couple months, college football fans have seen many decisions made by the NCAA over things like eligibility, suspensions, and legal action. A couple of the biggest names that the NCAA decided on were Trinidad Chambliss from Ole Miss as well as Brendan Sorsby from Texas Tech. Chambliss was denied by the NCAA to be able to play this upcoming season due to being out of eligibility. He has been in college since 2021, where he redshirted his freshman year, then in 2022 he did not play due to an illness. In 2023, he played 8 games before winning the starting job in 2024. After the 2024 season, he decided to enter the transfer portal and decided on Ole Miss where he made it all the way to the national championship game that year. Many thought he would be a top draft pick, but he decided to request for another year from the NCAA due to not playing in 2022. Initially he was denied but he would not give up. He got his case sent before a judge in Mississippi, who decided to grant Chambliss the extra year. It was a very controversial case because a lot of fans, outside of Ole Miss, believed he should not have been given another year because of an illness when he had already redshirted the previous year.

                The next biggest decision by the NCAA came after Texas Tech transfer QB Brendan Sorsby was found to have been placing bets while in college and even bets on his team. Sorsby started his career with Indiana then transferred to Cincinnati and finally Texas Tech. Sorsby was found guilty by the NCAA of placing more than 2500 bets while also making bets on his own team. It was found that out of those bets totaled more than $90,000 while using family and friends’ gambling accounts to try and avoid detections. He was quickly denied when this information came to the NCAA’s attention, but like Chambliss, he would take his case before a judge. A Texas judge decided to block the NCAA’s decision which will allow Sorsby to play in 2026. However, he will be suspended for the first two games and must attend a gambling addition facility. 

                Clemson also had an issue with the NCAA blocking a player from receiving a year back from his JUCO playing time. Tristan Smith transferred to Clemson last season after playing for 2 years at Southeast Missouri State. He also spent 2 years at a junior college before going to Southeast Missouri. Over the last couple years, there have been hundreds of players with JUCO experience who were granted an extra year, but Smith was denied for unknown reasons. He decided to also bring his case before a judge back in January. Smith was told he wouldn’t be seen in front of a judge until June, but instead of waiting around Smith decided not to give up on his team and continued to practice. He saw the judge earlier in the week but was told that he would have an answer before the weekend. Friday morning came and he finally got the answer he had been waiting for since January. He was granted an extra year in college and saw Clemson fans immediately go to social media to congratulate him. The Tiger Faithful will get to see Tristan Smith run down the hill once again. According to many on social media, the right decision was made for Smith’s eligibility especially when many other players were granted an extra year for the same reason.