LINCOLN -- Cael Frost still hasn't fully processed the news he heard more than a month ago. That his one baseball season at Nebraska could suddenly become two.
The outfielder's track had been clear and straightforward until late December. He was a relatively unknown prospect from a small high school in northeast Iowa who jumped at the chance to join a nearby junior college to keep playing. He did well enough to earn a spot at South Dakota State, then did well enough there -- a .343 average and 21 home runs as the Summit League Player of the Year -- to connect with the Huskers out of the portal for his final college campaign.
The surprise came in late December when a football-related federal court ruling granted another season to a former juco quarterback at Vanderbilt. That prompted the NCAA to approve an extra year of eligibility to all previous non-NCAA athletes -- those from junior college or NAIA -- in similar positions across all sports.
"It's crazy that that happened," Frost said. "I don't know, I'm kind of just taking it day by day and trying to get better each day. I'm focused on this year and trying to be successful with this team right now. We'll see what happens after that."
Frost isn't the only one now with unexpected options. More than half of Nebraska's likely starting lineup could return in 2026 solely because of the waiver. That includes most of the infield -- third baseman Josh Overbeek, second baseman Rhett Stokes and first baseman Tyler Stone -- along with outfielders Riley Silva and Frost. High-leverage reliever Casey Daiss fits the category too.
Other wrinkles have yet to play out. The Huskers, with a coaching staff full of junior-college ties, carry seven additional former juco players on their 40-man roster including Friday starting pitcher Mason McConnaughey and probable closer Luke Broderick. Whether those non-seniors receive an extra year to eventually consider remains unsettled.
"If it comes to it, we'll deal with it," said McConnaughey, a right-handed junior. "Right now we're just kind of focused on the now and focusing on going out and winning ballgames this spring."
The juco upheaval affects Nebraska baseball far more than any other Husker sport. Football rostered eight former juco players last fall -- starting safety DeShon Singleton took advantage of the change and will return next season as will reserve quarterback Jalyn Gramstad as a previous NAIA standout.
NU baseball boasts 13 members with a junior-college history. That's roughly equal to the total number of such athletes from every other sport in the athletic department combined.
"Preliminary talks are a lot of guys would be excited to have another year to play baseball," Nebraska coach Will Bolt said. "I know if I was given the opportunity to play another year I would have done it in a heartbeat."
The six Huskers potentially affected this spring took unconventional roads to Lincoln. Silva, from Canada, graduated high school in 2020 and spent a year working and working out during the pandemic shutdown. Overbeek and Stone both began at Division I schools before juco resets. Stokes initially stayed with a local two-year program in New Mexico when the covid outbreak limited his recruiting process. Daiss, 24, delayed his eligibility clock out of high school.
NCAA baseball programs generally recruit from the juco level more than most sports, though individual teams vary. Iowa, for example, lists 15 former jucos on its roster while UCLA has none and Big Ten contender Indiana carries one.
Nebraska has leaned heavier in that direction to recent success -- its 2024 breakout came in no small part because of its number of instant-impact junior-college hits. The team added six juco prospects for this spring and has eight committed in the 2025 class.
Bolt compared the junior-college extension to the free covid years that had finally matriculated out of the sport. Good for some, but also a logjam for future cycles. The Huskers for the 2026 campaign must trim their roster from 40 to 34 while only five players from the current team will exhaust their eligibility. NU has 22 known pledges set to arrive next summer.
Conversations about the future will play out as the season goes, Bolt said. Individual performance and professional opportunity will be key factors in evaluations.
"At this point we kind of just say, 'Okay, what's next?' and do the best you can to create the best roster possible," Bolt said.
For a good chunk of the Nebraska lineup, that process now comes with a decision nobody saw coming.
"I don't think the urgency goes away for those guys because nothing is guaranteed," Bolt said. "But does it give them maybe a way to have a little different perspective on a season? Maybe. I think it speaks to why it's important to get old and stay old, especially offensively."
Photos: Nebraska baseball practice Jan. 24, 2025