25-Year-Old Gonzaga Basketball Player Cries Real Tears After Being Released From NCAA Purgatory

Tyon Grant-Foster will be allowed to play college basketball for Gonzaga this season. The 25-year-old received a preliminary injunction that finally releases him from NCAA purgatory.

This is a huge win for common sense in an era of collegiate athletics where athletes have already received an additional year of eligibility for far less serious matters.

Grant-Foster cried real tears in court after he was told he would be allowed to play one final year of college basketball. It was an emotional moment for a player who has been through a lot of hardship.

Who is Tyon Grant-Foster?

Grant-Foster graduated from high school with the Class of 2018. He played two years at Indiana Hills Community College, one year at Kansas, one year at DePaul and two years at Grand Canyon.

However, that timeline does not tell the full story of his career.

Grant-Foster collapsed at halftime of the 2021-22 season-opener at DePaul. His heart needed to be shocked back into rhythm three different times after he was rushed to the hospital. Doctors told him that he would never play basketball again after two separate heart surgeries. It was over.

Despite all odds, approximately 16 months after his initial collapse, Tyon Grant-Foster returned to the court at Grand Canyon. He was named as the WAC Player of the Year in 2023-24. and averaged 14.8 points, 5.0 rebounds 2.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks per game in 2024-25.

It is a remarkable story of triumph that is not yet over. Grant-Foster transferred to Gonzaga during the offseason.

His career is not yet over.

In a different era, Tyon Grant-Foster’s career would’ve been over after four years. Things have changed.

First and foremost, every single athlete in college sports was granted an additional year of eligibility for the pandemic year in 2020. That gave them all five years.

Secondly, Grant-Foster missed all but one half of two full seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23 due to his health scare. He should receive an additional medical redshirt season.

Thirdly, the courts have often ruled in favor of striking JUCO eligibility from the four-year clock over the last ~18 months. It started with Diego Pavia. It continued with Grant-Foster on Monday. We’ll get there.

If Grant-Foster does not receive a medical redshirt, his career will break down as follows:

• 2018-19: Indian Hills — doesn’t count, Juco
• 2019-20: Indian Hills — doesn’t count, Juco
• 2020-21: Kansas — doesn’t count, COVID
• 2021-22: DePaul — played only one half of one game, Year 1
• 2022-23: OUT
• 2023-24: Grand Canyon — Year 2
• 2024-25: Grand Canyon — Year 3
• 2025-26: Gonzaga — Year 4

If Grant-Foster does receive a medical redshirt for the singular game he spent at DePaul, he might even have two years of eligibility left.

• 2018-19: Indian Hills — doesn’t count, Juco
• 2019-20: Indian Hills — doesn’t count, Juco
• 2020-21: Kansas — doesn’t count, COVID
• 2021-22: DePaul — played only one half of one game, medical redshirt
• 2022-23: OUT
• 2023-24: Grand Canyon — Year 1
• 2024-25: Grand Canyon — Year 2
• 2025-26: Gonzaga — Year 3
• 2026-27: Gonzaga — Year 4

Regardless of what the future might or might not hold, the focus right now is only on this upcoming season. The Bulldogs will play their first game on Nov. 3. Grant-Foster will be allowed to compete.

The NCAA tried to stop him.

Tyon Grant-Foster filed a waiver for an additional year of eligibility upon arrival to Spokane in June. The NCAA denied his waiver three different times over the summer and left him in purgatory, saying he had already exhausted four years of collegiate eligibility and should not play again at the collegiate level.

And then it went to the courts.

Grant-Foster hired legal council to seek a preliminary injunction that will allow him to play. Their case was ruled on by the Spokane County Superior Court during a nearly three-hour hearing on Monday.

“He has arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, which Washington state classifies as a disability, so we think this is a disability discrimination case,” said his attorney.

The NCAA initially argued the case should be tried in federal court but the case was sent back to a lesser court due to a lack of subject matter juridiction. Judge Marla Polin ultimately granted Grant-Foster with a preliminary injunction and restitution and ruled that he is eligible to play at Gonzaga this season.

He was brought to tears.