​I’m going to move forward with the assumption that the new age-based NCAA eligibility model will endure in some form once all the legal challenges are resolved. It makes sense, and I suspect schools don’t want to perpetually wage court battles over eligibility. It feels like some senior officials checked in on the college athletics gold mine; it wasn’t dead, but it had lost a few feathers. This age-based approach seems designed to blunt potential long-term financial damage from disillusioned fans—primarily middle-aged and older—who used to be the backbone of college sports. It feels like this is the first serious concession they’ve offered to the die-hard fans who care deeply about these issues in a long while.
I wrote an article outlining the age-based model here. The core idea is that athletes receive five seasons of eligibility if they enroll by age 19. It prevents 27-year-old European pros from dominating college basketball as true freshmen and does away with the archaic redshirt rules in both football and basketball. In theory, it also circumvents the so-called arbitrary NCAA eligibility waiver system, though I’ll believe it when I see it implemented in practice. Schools like hard-and-fast rules—until they believe they should be granted an exception.
Anyway, this is how the new age-based model affects the football program moving forward. I’ll break down the roster by position group and, at the end, assemble a coherent roster with a level of detail you won’t find on many other sites.
So, without further ado…
Name: John Pastore
Position: OL/OT
Recruiting class: 2022
HS/JuCo/Portal: High School, Colorado
Home state: Colorado
High school: Erie
HS rating: 3-star (84.3)
JuCo/Port: N/A
JuCo/Port rating: N/A
Seasons at KS: 4
Eligibility remaining: 4
Name: George Fitzpatrick
Position: OL/OT
Recruiting class: 2022
HS/JuCo/Portal: Portal, Colorado
Home state: Colorado
High school: Cherry Creek
HS rating: 4-star (91.2)
JuCo/Port: Ohio State
JuCo/Port rating: 3-star (85.1)
Seasons at KS: 1
Eligibility remaining: 4
Name: Tyler Johnson
Position: OL/OT
Recruiting class: 2023
HS/JuCo/Portal: Portal, Louisiana
Home state: Louisiana
High school: Natchitoches Central
HS rating: 3-star (87.6)
JuCo/Port: Auburn
JuCo/Port rating: 3-star (86)
Seasons at KS: 0
Eligibility remaining: 2
Name: Gus Hawkins
Position: OL/OT
Recruiting class: 2024
HS/JuCo/Portal: High School, Minnesota Valley
Home state: Minnesota
High school: Mill Valley
HS rating: 4-star (92.6)
JuCo/Port: N/A
JuCo/Port rating: N/A
Seasons at KS: 2
Eligibility remaining: 3
Name: Keegan Collins
Position: OL/OT
Recruiting class: 2026
HS/JuCo/Portal: High School, Texas
Home state: Texas
High school: West Plains
HS rating: 3-star (88)
JuCo/Port: N/A
JuCo/Port rating: N/A
Seasons at KS: 0
Eligibility remaining: 5
Name: Oliver Miller
Position: OL/OT
Recruiting class: 2026
HS/JuCo/Portal: High School, Colorado
Home state: Colorado
High school: Cherry Creek
HS rating: 3-star (87.8)
JuCo/Port: N/A
JuCo/Port rating: N/A
Seasons at KS: 0
Eligibility remaining: 5
No changes, with George Fitzpatrick serving as the only possible exception. He will use the prior five seasons to apply the four-season eligibility model, which offers more flexibility for medical exceptions. It may not matter much. It’s plausible he could also qualify for an extra year under the new model if he’s interested in continuing to play. I’d be surprised if Fitzpatrick doesn’t get an extra year if he wants it.
John Pastore is the left tackle. He performed well last season, which also helps with search engine optimization. This overview is intended to provide a detailed, position-by-position view of how the roster sits under the age-based framework, beyond what you’ll typically find on other sites.