Buffalo signs JJ Starling, 5th-year college basketball player who was 5-star recruit out of high school

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — JJ Starling, a 6-foot-4 guard who played four years of college basketball at Notre Dame and Syracuse after being a five-star recruit from the Central New York area, has signed with the University at Buffalo for the coming season, the team announced Thursday.

Starling’s eligibility to play a fifth season of college basketball is uncertain. He is among a group of athletes that have obtained a temporary restraining order from a judge in California after petitioning to be allowed to play under new NCAA rules allowing athletes to play five seasons in a five-year period.

The NCAA and several conferences argue that the rule does not apply to athletes from the high school graduating class of 2022 who have already four seasons. A preliminary injunction has granted Starling and the other athletes in the lawsuit eligibility, pending a hearing scheduled to be held between Sept. 29 and Dec. 3.

Starling averaged 10.9 points on 42% shooting last season at Syracuse, his least productive year of college basketball. He averaged 17.8 points the year before.

Named to the McDonald’s All-America team in 2022, Starling was ranked among the top 50 prospects in the country, and as high as 27 by ESPN. He made the ACC All-Freshman team in his first season at Notre Dame.

Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.