High Road Pays Off: Rashul Faison Eligible To Play For South Carolina 2025 After NCAA Grants Waiver

Rashul Faison had plenty of opportunities to file a lawsuit against the NCAA in his fight to gain eligibility for the upcoming season. But, the South Carolina running back held tight and waited for the chance to play this season, and now the NCAA has done right by him in college football.

His path to the Gamecocks practice field had been one filled with four different stops along the way, though head coach Shane Beamer understood the risk when he recruited him from Utah State during the winter transfer portal period. 

He hired noted sports attorney Darren Hietner this past spring, but held off on filing any type of lawsuit that would put his eligibility in the hands of a judge, and not the NCAA. But, just five days before South Carolina takes the field in Atlanta against Virginia Tech, he was ruled eligible on Monday, bringing this whole ordeal to an end. 

"First and foremost, I want to thank everyone at the University of South Carolina, attorney Darren Heitner, the NCAA and everyone here at The Famile who has been on this lengthy journey together," Faison's agent said. 

"God makes no mistakes and I am beyond grateful that Rashul has been approved to play. His resilience and determination never wavered. Despite the uncertainty, Rashul never stopped working and he's been locked in since the moment he got to Columbia. We all know how much this means to him and we are all excited to see him against the Hokies in game1."

For Rashul, he's technically been a college student since 2018. After graduating from high school in 2018, the running back decided to enroll at Marshall, though he never played a down for the Thundering Herd. From there, he enrolled in Lackawanna College in 2020, but once again did not play football, taking online courses instead. 

It was at that point in 2021 that Faison decided to attend Snow College, which is located in Utah. After not seeing the field that season, he finally got his opportunity to show off his skillset in 2022, which led to an offer from Utah State. 

Rashul Faison Was Following The Diego Pavia Plan, Until NCAA Stalled

Faison was seemingly following the lead of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who was granted an injunction by a judge, which gave him the right to play in 2025. 

After waiting for his chance to show off his athleticism on the field, he rushed for 1,109 yards and eight touchdowns last season, finally breaking through on the field, which would obviously open up doors for him to make some real NIL money in the transfer portal. 

But unfortunately, this is where the risk factor kicked in, knowing that it wasn't an absolute given that he would be awarded an additional year of eligibility if he were to transfer. 

And while it would have been a risky move to put this in front of a judge, Faison's camp did not want to go down that path, as they still waited on Marshall University to provide the last piece of paperwork needed by the NCAA to make a decision. 

In the end, it all paid off. Rashul will have the chance to suit up on Sunday. He will get an extra year of eligibility. But, there are countless other players that will not get the chance to play this fall. 

For that, the NCAA needs to do better.