PHOENIX, AZ - DECEMBER 06: Grand Canyon Antelope guard Jaden Henley (10) looks on before the Jerry Colangelo Classic college basketball game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Grand Canyon Antelopes on December 6, 2025 at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Update: A federal appeals court has granted the NCAA a “stay,” effectively pausing Colorado’s July ruling that would have granted several athletes an extra year of eligibility, per the AP.
College athletics — namely the two heavyweights, football and basketball — are in a state of chaos.
No, we do not the beautiful chaos that is March Madness, an annual 76-team tournament (eye roll … can someone explain why it expanded that doesn’t include corporate greed?) for hoop sickos like myself, and for your least favorite co-worker who doesn’t watch a single game all year but still beats you in your group’s bracket challenge.
Or the 12-team College Football playoff, which doesn’t have as much parity as March Madness, but still offers plenty of excitement for fans nationwide, even if they’re a fan of a Group of 5 team, like us.
We mean the swirling entropy that is the transfer portal and, most notably, players who go pro who are re-gaining eligibility to go back to school. And, now, the problem has infiltrated the Mountain West basketball landscape.
Jaden Henley is headed back to Grand Canyon:
In late July, the floodgates opened across college athletics when a Colorado judge granted immediate eligibility to allow the freshman class of 2022, even if they have already gone pro. There were a few specific instances where players who exhausted eligibility were granted a fifth year of eligibility, such as former Utah State guard MJ Collins, who transferred to Cincinnati earlier this summer.
As a result of this new injunction, however, guard Jaden Henley — who went through the entirety of the 2026 NBA Draft process, including signing an Exhibit 10 with the Detroit Pistons — returned to school and immediately entered the transfer portal. This week, the 6-foot-7 guard officially returned to Grand Canyon for a second-straight season.
While this is a completely different set of circumstances for Henley that it is for, say, James Nnaji or Amari Bailey, who visited Grand Canyon last spring, the overlying conclusion remains the same: Players who go through the draft process should not be eligible to return to college, regardless of the circumstance.
This was my stance in February when the pipe burst. That’s not going to change. This continues to set a bad precedent, regardless of who or which program it involves. What’s the point of the early entrant deadline if players are allowed to return because of arbitrary rulings?
Is more talent good for the Mountain West? Absolutely, especially in this seismic transition. And Henley, an All-Mountain West first team honoree last season, averaged 17.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals across 32 games with the Antelopes last year. He showed continued improvement as a slasher and self creator, and was one of the more versatile defenders in the MWC. Henley’s a dynamic two-way player who now enters the fray for the conference’s POTY award.
This isn’t a blame the player instance: It’s blaming the system. Henley should have the free will to do whatever best suits him, both on and off-the-court ($$$). He’s just playing the game — one that desperately needs checks and balances, but one nonetheless.
Why Grand Canyon immediately becomes MW favorites:
Whew, this is the cherry on top for an amazing summer for GCU.
Earlier in the summer, I wrote a column stating that Nevada was the biggest winner because they kept two All-MWC players while adding a slew of transfers. Well, now you could say the exact same thing about the ‘Lopes. They kept Makaih Williams, added St. John’s transfer Dylan Darling, in addition to transfers Jaden Zimmerman, Blake Barkley and Omaha Biliew. They’re deep, and they’re dangerous.
This was an already-good team who got that much better with Henley’s return, easing pressure off Williams, Darling and Zimmerman in the backcourt. The games still have to be played, but this week solidified GCU’s chances of potentially winning the MW, which New Mexico and Nevada also in the mix.
I know I sound like an old man screaming at a cloud. But what are your thoughts on this ruling? Let us know in the comments!