NCAA Denies Virginia's Ricky Miezan's Appeal for One More Year

One of the most intriguing players from the 2023 college lacrosse season will not get an encore. The NCAA’s denied Virginia midfielder Ricky Miezan’s appeal to play college lacrosse in 2024.

“Unfortunately, the NCAA has denied me my last year of eligibility,” Miezan posted on Instagram this morning. “Tough blow to not be able to end things the way I would have liked to, but I leave the field knowing I poured everything I had into it. Athletics has led me down an incredible journey, and I feel like I’ve lived three lifetimes in just a short 23 years. I’m a forever in debt to the people that have made this one hell of a ride.”

Miezan played in 15 games for the Cavaliers last year, registering seven goals and two assists, and created havoc with his 6-foot-2, 235-pound frame.

Originally a highly-coveted recruit who committed to play lacrosse at North Carolina, Miezan started gaining notice for football after picking up the sport his junior year at the Episcopal School in Virginia. Miezan opted to go to Stanford to play football where he began his career in 2018 and eventually became a captain.

Miezan redshirted the 2018 (only played four games) and 2019 (injury) football seasons and then played in just one game in 2020 before starting his final two years in 2021 and 2022. He earned honorable mention All-Pac 12 honors at linebacker in 2022 and finished his career with 123 tackles and six sacks.

Despite excelling in football, Miezan never lost his love for lacrosse. Featured on the March 2023 cover of USA Lacrosse Magazine alongside Navy’s Xavier Arline and Maryland’s Dante Trader, two more Division I football-lacrosse dual-sport athletes, Miezan told Patrick Stevens of his connection to lacrosse.

“That’s the sport that built me into the athlete I am today,” Miezan said. “It’s my foundation. When I got my fifth year and really thought about what I wanted to do, I really missed the sport.”

Pre-COVID, the NCAA allowed Division I to compete in four seasons of competition within a five-year time frame. The NCAA granted all athletes an extra year in their sport due to the COVID pandemic, but apparently ruled that Miezan's extra year of eligibility could only be used towards football and not lacrosse since he was not a member of a Division I lacrosse team in 2020.