One of college basketball’s most recognizable players has found a new home mid-season.
Robbie Avila, the bespectacled big man that became one of the sport’s most entertaining players starring for Josh Schertz at Saint Louis (and Indiana State before that) is expected to enroll at TCU in the coming days, sources confirmed to Sports Illustrated. 247Sports’ Jon Rothstein was first to report the development. Avila is one of dozens of high-profile players that have sued the NCAA in response to its age-based eligibility rollout and received a permanent injunction in Missouri state court last week.
Avila has been exploring the possibility of a college return for months. He first sued in the state of Illinois, where a judge ruled in early September that he did not have the personal jurisdiction to rule on the matter. Avila enrolled at Saint Louis for the fall semester, then filed a new suit in Missouri that eventually netted him that injunction last week. Making his case more complicated was the fact that Avila also had requested that a judge allow him to circumvent the sport’s roster limit; Saint Louis already had the maximum 15 players on its roster before adding in Avila.
The judge granted that request against the NCAA, but Avila’s hopes of suiting up for the Billikens took a twist Friday afternoon when the College Sports Commission (the entity that enforces the rules of the House vs. NCAA Settlement) announced that it was blocking Avila’s return to SLU. The roster limit rules were one of the many changes created by the settlement, and they only apply to schools that have opted into the settlement. (Saint Louis, like most major athletic departments, did.)
“While we take no position on Mr. Avila’s eligibility, we cannot effectuate a state court order that requires us to violate the explicit terms of a federal injunctive relief settlement by giving Saint Louis University an additional roster slot,” the CSC announced in a statement. “Mr. Avila may be eligible to play college basketball this season, but there is no roster slot available for him at Saint Louis University.”
While Saint Louis or Avila could have fought the CSC’s ruling, TCU emerged as an alternative option early this week. With a safer path to sustained eligibility and a potential payday that sources say is around $1 million, Avila chose to depart Saint Louis and is expected to play for the Horned Frogs this season.
The key question is when Avila could make his TCU debut. The university has four four-week academic terms throughout the fall in addition to the main 15-week fall semester, and the last four-week term begins Monday, November 16. If Avila is able to enroll in enough classes to be eligible by that term, he could make his Horned Frogs debut as soon as November 19 vs. Texas A&M. TCU is set to play in the Players Era 16 tournament the following week and would surely like to have Avila for those key games. If he’s not able to enroll in time, he’d likely have to wait to play until the fall semester concludes and wouldn’t be eligible to suit up until closer to the start of Big 12 play.
The Horned Frogs are off to a 3–0 start to the season, but needed double overtime to dispatch Louisiana-Monroe earlier this week. Avila could slot in as a starter next to star forward Xavier Edmonds once eligible.
That said, how quickly Avila fits into a completely new system with new teammates is a huge unknown. Avila has one of the more unorthodox skill sets in the country, thriving in Schertz’s offense as a “hub” whose passing ability made him an incredible weapon dishing to Saint Louis’s guards as cutters. Rebuilding an offense in Avila’s image on the fly likely isn’t tenable, which will force Avila to play more conventionally. But Avila did make 40% of his threes last season and is also effective in the low post, so he should bring a jolt of offense to the Horned Frogs once officially able to play.
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