Bearcats Assistant Coach Mantoris Robinson Details Five-For-Five Rule Impact on UC

The NCAA is making a big change to player eligibility in its championship sports, and it's a big boon for the Bearcats basketball program. Assistant coach Mantoris Robinson spoke with the media about the whole situation on Thursday. The NCAA is now allowing players to play five seasons of college athletics over five years to try to cut through the eligibility headaches that have plagued the ecosystem this decade.

His former Utah State players, Kolby King and MJ Collins, are part of a lawsuit against the NCAA, aiming to have the Class of 2022 mixed in as part of the 5-for-5. As of now, the Class of 2023 is the cutoff.

Mums the Word ... For Now

Mar 12, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats mascot on the court during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

He did not comment on the two players trying to play, but it's not hard to read between the lines with Cincinnati holding two roster spots open this deep into the offseason.

"Yeah, five for five is actually passed, and so what that means for our current seniors they'll have an extra year. So that's Trevian Carson, Riley Allenspach, Myles Colvin, Tyler Tejada, and those guys," Robinson said to the media group.

Robinson has been one of Jerrod Calhoun's lieutenants nearly this whole decade, joining his Youngstown State staff in 2021 and carrying through the Utah State tenure to here.

The duo has dialed into how they want to run their programs in the half-decade since linking up.

"Our history. So he's the coach that gave me a chance," Robinson said about dialing into this latest opportunity. "We first got a DII job at Fairmont State, so that was 2012. He gave me an opportunity to see what building a program's like, right? So you roll your sleeves up and you just get to work, and so for a guy like that to see him have an opportunity as a first head coach until now, seeing his family grow, seeing him be a more of a family man, see me evolve. He just kind of gave me the blueprint of how to be successful at any level."

Time will tell if Cincinnati gets to add those final two Utah State standouts to this new Bearcats roster, but all in all, the coaching staff has a great handle on how they want to attack this first season. The full arsenal to mount those offenses is almost finalized.

It's hard for Robinson to pick a player that's stood out most so far, but he did eventually land on Boston College transfer, Jayden Hastings.

"My favorite so far has been Jayden Hastings, because his voice, he's always going to let you know he's here, he's in the building, but not only that, he gravitates to other guys. So he's been my favorite so far," Robinson noted.

Check out the full comments from Robinson below via The Front Office News:

🏀 Cincinnati Bearcats '26-'27 Scholarship Sheet IF true seniors Kolby King & MJ Collins get an additional year of eligibility

🗒️ Big changes in this graphic as 5 in 5 is passed, there could be an error here but I am pretty sure all the current seniors have 2 years remaining now pic.twitter.com/BV2DDAsbhA
— The Bearcat Bunch (@bearcatbunch) June 24, 2026

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