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St. Louis Bilikens center Robbie Avila
College basketball has managed to produce players who’ve captivated fans for reasons beyond their performance on the court, and that was certainly the case with Robbie Avila. The bespectacled big man was recently dealt a setback in his quest to return for a fifth season, but he may end up capping off his college career with another team by pulling an unconventional move.
One of my favorite parts of college basketball is seeing people from largely overlooked schools get thrust into the spotlight after managing to pop up on the national radar.
That was the situation Robbie Avila found himself facing a few years ago as an undergraduate at Indiana State. He may not have posted the kinds of stats that Larry Bird did during his time with the Sycamores, but “Larry Nerd” was one of the nicknames he earned thanks to the pair of rec specs and the pale complexion that also inspired monikers like “Cream Abdul-Jabbar” and “Milk Chamberlain.”
Avila followed Josh Schertz to St. Louis ahead of his junior year, and it appeared we’d seen the last of him at the college level last season after the Bilikens lost to Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to cap off a campaign where the big man was named Atlantic 10 Player of the YearAtlantic 10 Player of the Year.
He suited up for the Lakers during the Summer League, and he subsequently joined the group of athletes who kicked off their college career in 2022 and began angling for a fifth year of eligibility after the NCAA overhauled its rules.
His attempt to return to St. Louis was ultimately thwarted, but he’s exploring another option in the hopes of suiting up this season.
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Avila announced his plans to play for St. Louis in October, and a judge (who just so happened to receive multiple degrees from the school) granted a temporary injunction that paved the way for his return earlier this month.
However, the College Sports Commission ultimately ruled he couldn’t join the team because it had reached its 15-player roster limit, a decision that forced Avila to reconsider his options.
According to CBS Sports, he has now set his sights on TCU with the hopes of taking advantage of a graduate enrollment period that officially kicked off on Thursday. Avila could theoretically start playing as soon as he’s a student, and while the Horned Frogs also have 15 guys on the current roster, they have the option to add the center by classifying a walk-on as a Designated Student Athlete who won’t count against the cap.
However, he could face another hurdle due to the eligibility rules the Big 12 passed over the summer, which ban its members from rostering any athlete who “signed a contract with any Professional Sports League to provide athletics services.”
Avila previously testified he only had a verbal agreement with the Lakers and never actually signed the Exhibit 10 contract he was offered, so it will be very interesting to see how this plays out.