NCAA grants Kate Koval special waiver to play immediately after LSU exit

The NCAA has granted former LSU center Kate Koval a legislative relief waiver, according to multiple reports.

The decision allows Koval to enter the transfer portal even though the women’s basketball transfer window is closed. It also clears her to play for a new school during the 2026-27 season.

The timing is important. The NCAA’s Division I women’s basketball transfer window ran from April 6 through April 20 this year. Koval did not make her decision to leave LSU until August. Without an exception, she would not have been able to enter the portal for the new season.

Koval had originally planned to stay in Baton Rouge. According to Koval, she was informed in April, several days after the transfer portal had closed, that LSU was going to sign a Russian player.

LSU later made the signing official on Aug. 14, when it announced that 17-year-old Russian center Anna Minaeva had joined the Tigers.

It led Koval to rethink her future at LSU. She eventually told head coach Kim Mulkey that she was leaving the program and withdrew from the school. LSU first described her departure as being for ‘personal reasons.’ Koval later explained the reason herself.

“My father serves in the Ukrainian military and takes tremendous pride in defending his country against Russian aggression,” Koval wrote on Instagram.

For Koval, the issue was closely tied to her family and her home country. She was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her father, Oleksandr Koval, serves as a drone operator in the Ukrainian military.

“For me, this war is not distant or abstract. People close to me have been killed and wounded in Russian attacks, and places where I grew up and first began playing basketball have been destroyed by missile strikes,” she added.

Koval said the situation made her question whether LSU was still the right place for her. At the same time, she made clear that she understood roster decisions are part of college basketball.

When Koval left in August, the path forward was not simple. The NCAA’s rules say that a player asking to enter the transfer portal outside the regular window must show an ‘exigent event’ outside the athlete’s control.

But now a source briefed on the decision confirmed the news to The Athletic, while three people with access to the transfer portal told USA TODAY Sports that Koval had received the waiver.

Koval was expected to be a major part of the Tigers’ frontcourt this season.

The 6-foot-5 post player appeared in all 35 games last season and started 17 of them. She averaged 8.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.2 blocks. She finished second on the LSU roster in both rebounds and blocks.

USA TODAY Sports reported that Koval ranked 20th nationally in offensive rebounding rate at 17.4% and 14th in defensive rating at 72.2. So, Koval’s exit leaves LSU with a frontcourt question.

Still, the bigger question now is where Koval goes next. She is already eligible to look for a new school, but the timing makes the search different from a normal transfer period.

Most teams built their 2026-27 rosters months ago, and NCAA Division I women’s basketball teams that are subject to the House settlement roster rules have a limit of 15 players.

A program interested in Koval would therefore need an available roster spot and would still have to complete the normal enrollment and eligibility process before she could play.