Social media #FreeJurk blitz spreads

Boston College fans have been asking the same question for six months now: Will Phil Jurkovec be eligible to play in 2020? The NCAA still hasn’t answered.

Meanwhile, other players, namely USC transfer quarterback J.T. Daniels, have had their immediate-eligibility waivers approved. In far less time, too. Daniels, for instance, decided to transfer to Georgia on May 28 and was granted a waiver fewer than eight weeks later. Similarly, Jurkovec’s teammate Jaelen Gill, a Ohio State transfer wide receiver, got the green light on July 14, less than two months after he announced his plans to leave Columbus for Chestnut Hill.

Just this past week, two Florida State transfers from Mississippi State—defensive tackle Fabien Lovett and defensive back Jarrian Jones—got their waivers. Both transferred to FSU in late May/early June, after Bulldogs head coach Mike Leach tweeted an offensive meme (that has since been deleted from his account) on April 1. Jurkovec, on the other hand, enrolled at BC in January, has been a full-time student since, and still hasn’t heard a thing.

The BC faithful have grown increasingly disgruntled with the NCAA. One Superfan in particular took matters in her own hands. Diehard Eagles fan and BC women’s soccer alum, known as @BCdee97—or simply “BCdee”—on Twitter, began relentlessly using #FreeJurk in mid-July to show her support for the Notre Dame transfer quarterback (a redshirt sophomore who threw just 18 passes in two years in South Bend) and his immediate-eligibility waiver.

Over the course of the past week, she has ramped up her social media efforts, and the BC Twitter community has taken note. Once BC Barstool jumped aboard the #FreeJurk train, the hashtag started to spread like wildfire, in the BC circle that is.

Several Eagles players joined in, including David Bailey, Kobay White, Mike Palmer, and Max Richardson—all of whom are major contributors, as well as veteran leaders, on the team.

Jurkovec himself retweeted the Barstool BC tweet. Non-BC players, like New England Patriots defensive end Chase Winovich—another Western Pennsylvania product who played for Thomas Jefferson High School (less than an hour away from Jurkovec’s alma mater, Pine-Richland)—also chimed in. Soon enough, the national media entered the conversation.

BC alum and former Monday Night Football play-by-play man Joe Tessitore, the father of BC place kicker John Tessitore, helped get the ball rolling. He called upon colleagues Jay Bilas and Rod Gilmore to give their takes on the situation and the NCAA’s waiver-approval process.

Bilas and Gilmore responded. Bilas, who was part of two Duke men’s basketball Final Four teams and has worked as a ESPN college basketball broadcaster/analyst since 1995, addressed a popular rumor that has circulated throughout the BC sphere. There has been wide speculation that the decision surrounding Jurkovec’s immediate-eligibility waiver ultimately hinges on whether or not Notre Dame is included in the Eagles’ revised 2020 schedule.

ACC commissioner John Swofford has previously said that if the league went to a conference-only schedule, the Irish would likely be in the mix, according to longtime ACC reporter David Teel.

“NCAA policy regarding transfers has no principle,” Bilas tweeted. “To deny a transfer based upon a schedule? The player can quit and join an opponent as a coach (with the playbook under his arm) but not play? Coaches can accept money from that same opponent and work for them. It’s absurd.”

Gilmore, who played football at Stanford and has served as an ABC/ESPN college football analyst for the past 24 years, agreed. In fact, he reiterated Bilas’ statement about the double standard regarding players and coaches joining opponents of their former teams.

“This is typical, non-sensical NCAA action,” Gilmore tweeted. “Coaches & assistant coaches leave and face their former team the next year all the time. And they know more secrets than players. Stop punishing players for transferring. Let him play.”

Later, Gilmore even used the “FreeJurk” hashtag.

Immediate-eligibility waivers have been the source of great debate the past few seasons. Last year, several notable players, like quarterbacks Justin Fields (Georgia to Ohio State) and Tate Martell (Ohio State to Miami), were granted waivers, whereas others, such as tight end Luke Ford (Georgia to Illinois) and O-Lineman Brock Hoffman (Coastal Carolina to Virginia Tech) were ultimately denied, even though they cited ill family members in their waivers.

The NCAA approved a resolution to adopt one-time transfer eligibility in 2021 on May 20. In other words, if the new transfer legislation is developed, athletes participating in basketball, football, baseball, and hockey won’t have to sit out a year upon transferring for the first time in their respective careers. But that doesn’t change things for current transfers, like Jurkovec.

It’s worth noting that the pandemic has played a role in delaying any transfer rule changes, as it was referenced in the NCAA Board of Directors recommendation against voting for the one-time transfer exemption’s implementation in 2020.

Back in February, the ACC joined the Big Ten in support of one-time transfer eligibility for all student-athletes. Of course, this issue isn’t really about the ACC or the Power Five—but rather, the NCAA’s legislative system.