2 Clemson WBB players fighting for extra year of eligibility. Here’s the latest
As seniors, Mia Moore and Taylor Johnson-Matthews were big-time scorers for a Clemson women’s basketball team that reached the NCAA Tournament.
They might not be done with the Tigers just yet.
Speaking in an offseason news conference Wednesday, Clemson coach Shawn Poppie said his program is actively looking into the eligibility situations of Moore and Johnson-Matthews, both of whom have a case to play again this fall.
Moore, an All-ACC second-team guard who averaged a team-best 13.3 points per game last year, is seeking an NCAA waiver for a sixth year related to an injury redshirt. Johnson-Matthews, third on the team with 9.5 points per game last year off the bench, is seeking a fifth year because of her prior junior college experience.
Poppie said it’s a “unique situation” for Clemson women’s basketball, which started summer workouts this week without knowing if it will have Moore or Johnson-Matthews in the fold for 2026-27. Both players are currently enrolled in summer classes at Clemson but working out separately from the team.
“That’s where we currently stand, and tomorrow will be a new day,” Poppie said Wednesday at Littlejohn Coliseum. “We’ll see what happens.”
Clemson ‘confident’ in Moore’s waiver despite denial
Clemson submitted an NCAA waiver request on behalf of Moore in March. The NCAA denied Moore’s initial waiver earlier this week, Poppie said, and the school is now working on an appeal.
Clemson is asking the NCAA to grant Moore a retroactive injury redshirt year dating back to her time at Mississippi State.
Moore missed her entire freshman season at the SEC school in 2021-22 with injury and took a standard redshirt year. As a redshirt freshman in 2022-23, she appeared in four games off the bench for Mississippi State and played 12 total minutes before missing the rest of the year with injury.
The issue: Moore’s final appearance came on Jan. 19, 2023 during the Bulldogs’ 19th game and past the mathematical halfway point of their season by two games.
NCAA medical hardship waiver rules state an injury or illness must occur in the first half of an athlete’s season, so Moore’s 2022-23 season at Mississippi State counted as a regular year of eligibility.
Moore went on to play one season at UAB and two seasons at Clemson (five total). Clemson is asking the NCAA to retroactively grant Moore a second redshirt year.
“We felt confident that we could get that (year) back,” Poppie said. “Unfortunately, that’s not how the NCAA sees it. ... Hopefully, we can put an appeal together that can answer the question better.”
Former JUCO guard’s status up in the air
Johnson-Matthews’ situation is a little different.
She’s played four full healthy seasons of college basketball without a redshirt and technically saw her eligibility expire this spring. But after starting her career at Wright State, Johnson-Matthews played her sophomore year at Pearl River Community College, a non-NCAA JUCO in Poplarville, Mississippi.
She then played her junior season at DePaul and senior season at Clemson.
Poppie said Clemson’s initial waiver and its appeal for Johnson-Matthews were denied by the NCAA, which wasn’t a huge surprise to the program.
“Now it’s her and her team trying to figure out what’s next while she’s here,” he said.
A number of former junior college athletes have successfully petitioned the NCAA for extra years of eligibility, arguing that their JUCO years shouldn’t count against their NCAA eligibility clock.
That includes Clemson football’s Tristan Smith, who sued the NCAA in January after his waiver to play a fifth season in 2026 was denied. After a six-month legal battle, a local judge granted Smith a temporary injunction against the NCAA earlier this month, which allows the wide receiver to compete this fall.
Poppie didn’t rule out Johnson-Matthews filing a lawsuit against the NCAA to get a fifth year of eligibility but said that’s a decision for her and her family. A lawsuit would be costly and could stretch into basketball season, which starts in November.
“No doubt on her side of things, when you see Tristan’s (ruling), maybe you get a little hope,” Poppie said. “But I’m telling you, that is stuff that is so far over my head.”
Poppie said Clemson’s focus is making sure Moore and Johnson-Matthews get clarity on their futures as soon as possible so they’re not in a holding pattern. Moore, he said, has already missed out on 2026 WNBA training camp opportunities.
“My biggest thing is to make sure that whatever happens, they’re taken care of whenever the decisions are made,” Poppie said.
