Eastern New Mexico forward Jahcoree Ealy recently missed four consecutive games. Some suspected the Lone Star Conference’s leading scorer was dealing with an injury. However, sources have told Dave Campbell’s Texas Basketball that Ealy missed those four critical conference games due to questions surrounding his NCAA eligibility.

Ealy sat out two home games against Angelo State and UTPB at the beginning of February. He traveled with the team but did not dress for the Greyhounds contests against Midwestern State and Cameron the following week. Ealy returned to the lineup at West Texas A&M last Thursday.

Sources incidate that Ealy was officially ruled eligible by the NCAA before ENMU’s game against the Buffs. Dave Campbell's contacted the conference office and was referred to ENMU's assistant athletic director of marketing and communications, Jose Montoya, who clarified Ealy's status.

“The NCAA has reviewed Jahcoree's eligibility on multiple occasions, including a waiver process last year,” Montoya said in a statement to Dave Campbell’s. “They reviewed his eligibility recently and again determined that he is fully eligible for competition.”

Some coaches within the conference maintain the belief that Ealy should be considered ineligible and are upset he was allowed to return to the court. The question regarding his NCAA eligibility surrounds how many years he played for Lang Prep Academy in Arkansas.

According to NCAA regulations, a player can play one year for a prep school without counting toward NCAA eligibility. The NCAA considers an athlete to have participated in a year of prep basketball if they play in more than 20 percent of contests in a season, which would be more than six games of the season in question for Ealy, who admits to playing for Lang Prep during the complete 2017-2018 season. Here’s what we know about Ealy’s playing career.

Before joining ENMU, Ealy played at Connors State for three seasons in 2019-2020. He signed with the Cowboys following a standout prep career at Guy Perkins High School in Arkansas. Ealy led the Thunderbirds to the 2017 Class 1A Boys state title to complete his high school career. He then played for Lang Prep in the 2017-2018 season.

Exactly how many games Ealy participated in during the 2018-2019 season for Lang Prep is the root cause of his eligibility concerns. DCTB obtained a Facebook link to videos of Lang Prep playing during the season in question. Ealy wore number 21 for Lang Prep, as evidenced in a post by Snmotion.com on Twitter on Feb. 1, 2019, during the season in question. The same account made another post about Ealy using the same photo three days later.

From videos of Lang Prep’s 2018-2019 season on Facebook, Ealy played in at least 11 games with dates ranging from October 25, 2018, through the team’s final video posted of the season on March 20, 2019. Throughout each of the 11 contests, ‘Jahcoree,’ or ‘Coree’, as he is often called, is audible multiple times throughout each game.

Connors State athletics site mentions Ealy playing for Lang Prep in a sentence about him scoring 42 points against Mid-South in his bio. All previous years of Lang Prep rosters have been deleted from the internet. Sources indicate they hold recordings of multiple games of Ealy playing for Lang Prep in 2018-2019, should the Facebook account or videos be deleted following the publication of this story.

This issue would likely never surfaced if Ealy did not enter the transfer portal after last season. Many LSC teams recruited Ealy before he chose to return to ENMU for his final collegiate season. However, multiple sources at numerous LSC schools said their compliance office notified them that Ealy was not eligible due to playing two seasons at Lang Prep.

As the 2023-2024 season progressed, LSC coaches spoke to each other regarding their inability to sign Ealy due to eligibility questions. According to sources, a fellow LSC member contacted ENMU to clarify the number of years Ealy played prep basketball. Sources indicate that the NCAA and LSC were also contacted to determine Ealy’s eligibility.

Supporters of Ealy question the timing of the eligibility questions. ENMU held a 12-6 overall record and was 8-4 in the LSC when the allegations resurfaced. Some sources around the LSC believe Ealy and the Greyhounds deserve the benefit of the doubt and note the NCAA has given their approval on his eligibility 

Skeptics question the sincerity of those alleging improprieties, considering the question arose after it was apparent ENMU would challenge for a spot in the South Central Regional. Many are curious why the allegations didn’t surface before the season if other universities deemed Ealy to have compliance concerns.

The Greyhounds are one of five teams within a game and a half of each other battling for the final three spots in Frisco for the LSC tournament in March. Ealy has played in nine of ENMU’s 11 LSC victories this season.

Below is a current look at the LSC race for Frisco, with two weekends remaining in the regular season.

The LSC faced a similar situation with UTPB’s women’s soccer program in 2022 when an ineligible player participated in games for the Falcons. The conference placed a nullification penalty on UTPB and placed them at the bottom of the standings. Here’s roughly how the LSC standings would look if ENMU were sent to the bottom of the table with nine victories nullified.

The scenarios to make the postseason would remain the same for most teams. However, UTPB would move into the eighth position. Considering the Falcons own the tiebreaker against OC, MSU, and StMU, they could clinch a spot in the conference tournament with a win and a loss by OC on Thursday. MSU and StMU would be eliminated on Thursday with a loss or a Falcons victory over UT Tyler.