NCAA denies Memphis guard Caleb Mills’ waiver for 2024-25 season

Caleb Mills’ college basketball career is officially over.

The NCAA has denied a waiver that would’ve made Mills eligible to play for Memphis basketball in the 2024-25 season, a source confirms to Bluff City Media. Mills’ initial application for the waiver was denied in May, and its appeal was recently shot down as well.

The 6-foot-5 guard was one of Memphis’ key pieces in its first 14 games last season before tearing his patella tendon at Tulsa on Jan. 4. He averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game as the Tigers’ sixth man before the injury. Penny Hardaway’s club, 11-2 when Mills went down, finished the campaign 11-8 and missed the NCAA Tournament without him.

Mills was ineligible for a medical redshirt waiver, however, since he played in 43% of Memphis’ games in 2023-24. NCAA rules state that a player must have played in less than 30% of a team’s games to get a waiver.

So, Memphis instead tried to get Mills cleared for a mental health waiver, which stemmed from the 2020-21 season when he transferred from Houston to Florida State after playing just four games. These efforts were obviously unsuccessful as well.

Memphis, which has already added the likes of PJ Haggerty (Tulsa), Colby Rogers (Wichita State) and Tyrese Hunter (Texas) to is backcourt this offseason, still has three open scholarships remaining for next year.