The Gonzaga Bulldogs had a surprise late entry into the transfer portal on Tuesday evening, in more ways than one.
Adam Miller, who completed his sixth year of college in 2025-26 with the Zags, tossed his name into the portal a few hours before it closed, hoping to get a waiver for an additional year of eligibility.
Miller is far from alone in entering the portal despite not having any remaining eligibility, but his waiver appears even less likely to be granted, considering his circumstances.
The NCAA has begun preliminary conversations to implement a 'five in five' rule, which would effectively give all student-athletes five years from the day they graduate high school, or turn 19 years old, to complete five seasons. If this rule goes into effect this summer, it is possible that student-athletes who recently finished their fourth year could gain an additional year of eligibility.
Significant players this could impact include Purdue guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, North Carolina's Seth Trimble, UConn's Alex Karaban, and Saint Louis' Robbie Avila, among hundreds of others.
Miller, however, does not fit the criteria. The 6'3 guard began his collegiate career at Illinois in 2020-21, appearing in 31 games for the Illini where he averaged 8.3 points.
He then transferred to LSU and sat out the entire 2021-22 season due to injury, before suiting up for the Tigers in 2022-23 in 33 games.
After that, Miller hit the portal again, landing at Arizona State, where he played 23 games in 2023-24 and another 30 games in 2024-25. Miller then moved to Gonzaga for his fourth school, playing 35 games for the Zags this past year.
That makes six total years Miller has been in college, and he played 23 or more games in five of those seasons. His 152 career games played are more than almost any other player who plays a traditional four-year career, and even many who play five seasons.
Miller's argument for a waiver will likely revolve around the 2020-21 season being the COVID year, where all players were given a blanket waiver due to multiple game cancellations.
However, even with that year wiped from his record, Miller still played in four different seasons across five total years, which would not grant him an additional year under the current NCAA rules - or the proposed new rules that have not gone into effect.
The new rule, as currently proposed, would not grant extra eligibility to any of Gonzaga's seniors from last year's rotation. Graham Ike, Jalen Warley, and Tyon Grant-Foster were all in college for 5+ years total. Only Noah Haaland could, in theory, come back under these new rules, and that is only if the rules allow players to return to school once they are implemented.
There is no consequence for Miller putting his name in the portal and trying to squeeze in another year of college hoops, but the case doesn't feel particularly strong for the veteran guard, who averaged 7.3 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 19.4 minutes per game last year at Gonzaga.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/gonzaga as Gonzaga guard Adam Miller enters transfer portal in surprise bid for extra year of eligibility .
