CHARLOTTE — Jasmine Twitty has been playing basketball for the Cleveland Community College Yetis in Shelby, but there’s a big question surrounding how much playing time she has left.
“Basketball would definitely be my saving grace. It has saved me from a lot. I don’t know what I would be without basketball,” Twitty told Channel 9′s Eli Brand.
She says her eligibility at the junior college level ended this year. If she wants to continue her career, her only chance would be to transfer to an NCAA school.
The National Junior College Athletic Association says they’re trying to make that process more fair.
“We’re just looking for the same opportunity the same equity for those student-athletes to transfer and be evaluated school by school,” said Dr. Christopher Parker, President and CEO of the NJCAA.
The NJCAA is based in Charlotte and the governing body for athletics at dozens of two-year colleges. He says junior college transfers are at a disadvantage. The biggest problem is the requirement to maintain a 2.5 grade point average to transfer to an NCAA school, but four-year university transfers only need between a 1.8 and 2.0 GPA.
“Two-year athletes unfortunately have been frowned upon for decades,” Parker said.
Parker wants JUCO transfers to have the same standards as four-year transfers. He says a big help is coming from a letter signed by 16 coaches associations in support of the change. Those associations represent coaches at the JUCO and four-year university levels.
“At the end of the day, we’re all human and we all need a fair fighting chance that everybody else gets, regardless of if you’re just JUCO or go directly from high school to D1,” Twitty said.
The NCAA hasn’t released a comment on the letter.
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