Last season, Pittsburgh Penguins' prospect Jack Beck got off to a great start with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL to kick off his professional career, establishing himself as a point-per-game player, seeing a small and successful sample size in the AHL, and - subsequently - earning himself an AHL contract for the 2025-26 season.
And, on Thursday, he stirred some controversy when he decided to take a different path this season.
Instead of playing in the AHL next season, Beck, 22, committed to Arizona State University (ASU), following in the footstep of his older brother, Noah, who spent the 2024-25 season with ASU and signed a one-year entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks for the 2025-26 season. Beck will join fellow Penguins' prospect Cruz Lucius - who transferred to ASU from University of Wisconsin ahead of 2024-25 - on the team this season.
But it's not so much the fact that Beck chose ASU over spending the year in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins. It's the fact that his eligibility itself is a point of contention.
Per NCAA eligibility rules, players that have signed professional contracts and accumulated professional service time are not NCAA-eligible. Since Beck has 40 games between Wheeling and WBS accumulated, he wouldn't be eligible without approval from the NCAA Eligibility Center. In years past, there wouldn't really have been any hesitation to keep a player like Beck out of the NCAA.
However, things have changed. Between coming out on the wrong end of lawsuits and the increased influx of CHL talent entering the NCAA because of the new transfer agreement, eligibility rulings have become a bit muddied. Oftentimes, it has come down to money, as it's been ruled in a few cases that the cost of being at the university and playing for the team outweighs the players' earnings from their professional contracts.
At the end of the day, eligibility requirements have become a bit more obsolete for former professional players, and instances like Beck's are likely to become more and more common, even if his eligibility in terms of years is limited because he's over the age of 21.
In 36 ECHL games last season, Beck registered eight goals and 36 points, and he also put up a goal and three points in four games with WBS.
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