East Lansing — There’s an asterisk next to wide receiver Rodney Bullard Jr. on the Michigan State roster this spring. He’s seeking an additional year of eligibility through an NCAA waiver, but really, it’s not an additional year at all.
Bullard, 22, has played in just three collegiate seasons and redshirted a fourth. But because of a unique journey that he started as a student at Division II Valdosta State, Bullard is waiting for the appeals process to grant him an extra year that, by definition, he should have.
“We’re building up a nice case, and they’re trying to find out a whole bunch of details,” Bullard said.
It’s a unique story, but an easy one to piece together. Bullard graduated from Westover High School in Albany, Georgia, a town of about 67,000 people, at just 16 years old in 2021. Unrecruited during a senior season derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he enrolled at Valdosta State as a part-time student to finish his associate’s degree from credits he’d earned from dual enrollment.
“I was just a regular student. I didn’t play football,” Bullard said. “You know, they saw me kind of doing some one-on-ones with some of the guys after the season. I got on the team, and then that’s how the story kind of happened.”
That was the spring of 2022. Bullard wasn’t on the Valdosta State team that previous fall, but the NCAA claims that his eligibility clock began during that first year spent as a student. So, he’s a rare first-year sophomore in its eyes.
Bullard only played games in 2023, 2024 and 2025, appearing in 40 games during that span including 12 for Michigan State last season. He made five catches for 119 yards, 71 of those on a second-half touchdown in an overtime loss at Minnesota last season. There could be more on the table, if he gets his chance this coming season.
“We want him here. I’ll tell you that for sure, 100%,” Michigan State coach Pat Fitzgerald said at the start of spring ball March 17. “And is he waiting for the waiver? Yes. And to my friends at the NCAA, can you please get it done?”
That was a month ago. Bullard still doesn’t have an answer.
Bullard’s eligibility case comes down to a question of when his eligibility clock began. The Detroit News submitted an inquiry Thursday to the NCAA with the following question: If a player is a student who then walks on to a team after the completion of a season, does that season count against four years (plus a redshirt) of eligibility?
Here’s the answer:
“A student-athlete’s five-year period of eligibility begins when the student enrolls full-time at a collegiate institution,” said Jericho Barr-Redmond, the NCAA’s assistant director of external communications. “Within that period, a student-athlete may compete in four seasons of competition. If a student was not on a squad list and did not compete during a season, then he/she more than likely did not use one of their four seasons of competition.”
In Bullard’s case, he says he was only a part-time student in that first year at Valdosta State. In fact, that’s the reason he had to immediately redshirt. He had to become a full-time student in order to be eligible to compete.
“I wasn’t a full time student, because I wasn’t trying to finish and be in the real world,” Bullard said, noting he intended to finish his associates degree. “I graduated at 19, so I’d have been probably 19 years old and just out in the real world.”
By the way, Bullard is one class from finishing a master’s degree in sports administration from Michigan State, to add to his bachelor’s degree in the same field at Valdosta State. He wants to be an athletic director some day.
“I thought we had a tough job as players, but they’re here way longer than us,” Bullard said.
According to the NCAA’ rules, Bullard should by definition have another year of eligibility remaining. And yet, as 25-year-olds play college basketball and medical waivers extend the eligibility of some football players just as long, here’s Bullard pleading with the NCAA for a fourth year.
For its part, Michigan State is helping Bullard with the appeals process fully knowing he may not be able to play this fall.
“I can’t appreciate them enough,” Bullard said. “Like, they came in and they have a lot of other things to worry about, a lot of other guys to get. I’m a question mark at the moment, you know, and for them to still be fighting for me, like I really appreciate them. I can’t thank them enough.”
For now, it’s a waiting game.
“We feel like we have a very strong argument and case and bringing all the facts together about the whole situation,” Bullard said. “So, we’re just playing a waiting game right now.”
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan State player is fighting the NCAA for a fourth season
Reporting by Connor Earegood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
