NCAA ruling: Utah's Vickers granted another season, Rising petition denied


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SALT LAKE CITY — It’s still a couple months until college football officially becomes a regular discussion, but the University of Utah announced Monday some NCAA rulings that impact the football program this season.

The NCAA approved a clock-extension for receiver Derrick Vickers and denied a petition to grant immediate eligibility to Texas transfer quarterback Cameron Rising for the 2019 season, the university said.

“We are pleased to hear that Derrick has been granted a fifth year of eligibility and will be able to play for us in the upcoming season,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said in a prepared statement. “He has worked extremely hard for this opportunity and he gives us another playmaker at the wide receiver position.”

Vickers, a native of Bakersfield, California, transferred to Utah from Bakersfield College after a long and arduous stretch to become eligible to play for the team. Vickers was forced to burn a redshirt season in 2017 after some academic miscommunications and a knee injury held him out of play.

The 5-foot-11 receiver joined the Utah program about a week before fall camp started in 2018 and took some time to acclimate to the program. He played in five games during the season on special teams, returning four kickoffs for a total of 78 yards.

Vickers adds depth to an improving receiving corps that is positioned for a breakout season. In addition, Vickers adds some depth to the special teams unit as a speedster in the return game.

Rising, a 6-foot-1 quarterback out of Ventura, California, transferred to Utah in early 2019 and participated in spring football. Utah petitioned the NCAA for a ruling of immediate eligibility after Rising entered the transfer portal following his redshirt freshman season at Texas.

“While we’re disappointed that Cameron’s waiver was denied, he will continue to have a positive impact on our program and he will be ready to compete for us in 2020 and beyond,” Whittingham said in a prepared statement.”

Rising will be eligible to play in the 2020 season as a redshirt sophomore and will have three seasons to compete as a member of the team. Rising will likely compete with backup quarterback Jason Shelley for the starting job next season.

Whittingham said in spring that he wasn’t expecting to see Rising’s petition granted, particularly with how long the process had taken for them to hear from the NCAA. With the new transfer portal for college athletes opening up this season, the NCAA has granted immediate eligibility for a handful of athletes and the university was hopeful they’d have Rising for the 2019 season.

With the news of Rising's petition denied, that leaves Utah with senior Tyler Huntley as the team's starting quarterback, redshirt sophomore Jason Shelley as his backup and junior Drew Lisk, sophomore Zach Hymas and freshman Jayden Clemons as the team's remaining depth at the position.

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Josh is the Sports Director for KSL.com and beat writer covering University of Utah athletics — primarily football, men’s and women's basketball and gymnastics. He is also an Associated Press Top 25 voter for college football.

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