UCF forward Jamichael Stillwell commits to Texas Tech basketball team
· Yahoo Sports
Jamichael Stillwell is a proven performer in the Big 12 Conference, and the former Central Florida forward committed to the Texas Tech men's basketball team on Friday, July 24.
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It remains to be seen whether the 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward will ever play for the Red Raiders. He'll need a court injunction to do so. Stillwell is among 16 men's basketball players suing the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility in a complaint filed July 9 in Cobb County, Georgia, according to the Daytona News-Journal.
Stillwell has played four seasons of college basketball in four years. That lumps him in among the many players who are considered out of eligibility under the NCAA's newly approved age-based eligibility model, commonly known as the 5-for-5 rule.
Stillwell played this past season for UCF, starting 30 of the Knights' 31 games and averaging 11.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He finished 25th in NCAA Division I and second in the Big 12 in offensive rebounds per game (3.35) and recorded nine double-doubles.
The Knights finished 21-12, including 9-9 and in a four-way tie for seventh place in the Big 12. Stillwell would fill a need for the Red Raiders, who are more well-stocked with guards than inside players at the moment. His 8.2 per-game rebounds average ranked fifth in the Big 12.
Stillwell told On3 of his commitment to the Red Raiders.
The NCAA has said it is not granting a fifth year under the new model to athletes who completed their fourth year of competition during the 2025-26 school year. It reiterated that position in a statement on Thursday, July 23, saying the model had broad support among the Division I membership and unanimous support from the Division I Cabinet.
"The board has no plans to modify their application," the statement said, "notwithstanding a series of lawsuits recently filed on behalf of student-athletes with no remaining eligibility. We look forward to ensuring that the age-based eligibility rules are enforced consistently so that all institutions play by the same rules, like all participants in sports."
Stillwell's listed hometown is Atlanta, Georgia, and he prepped at Elevation Prep in Sarasota, Florida. Beginning with the 2022-23 season, he played one season apiece at Miami Dade College, Butler (Kan.) Community College and Wisconsin-Milwaukee before transferring UCF.
His per-game averages were 13.9 points and 8.4 rebounds for Miami Dade; 12.5 points and 10.5 rebounds with Butler Community College; and 13.0 points and a program-record 10.7 rebounds for UW-Milwaukee.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: UCF forward Jamichael Stillwell commits to Texas Tech basketball team