Jahsen Wint has been officially cleared to play at Marshall.

The former Ohio State safety, who transferred to Marshall as a walk-on in May, did so without knowing if he would be eligible to play as he had exhausted his six-year window of NCAA eligibility. On Thursday, however, the NCAA granted Wint an additional year of eligibility, allowing him to return to the field for the first time since he was dismissed from the Ohio State football team in 2020.

Wint, who was found not guilty on rape charges along with fellow former Ohio State defensive back Amir Riep in February after they awaited trial for nearly three years, is now eligible to play for Marshall on Saturday in its season opener against Albany (6 p.m., ESPN+).

From Marshall’s release on Thursday’s news:

"In a time when the NCAA is under extreme scrutiny, they were very diligent in examining the information we were able to gather and present on Jahsen's behalf, and they were able to ultimately come to a decision that was in the best interest of the student-athlete while keeping the integrity of their guidelines and protocols in place," Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. "This goes to show that with proper collaboration, communication and foresight, we can be great here at Marshall and create opportunities for young men like Jahsen to create value for themselves."

When Jahsen (pronounced JAH-sen) Wint got a call from Marshall Associate AD of Compliance Sean Tuttle on Thursday, he admitted that a range of emotions went through his mind as he made the walk to the Shewey Building.

"Everything went through my head," Wint said. "The whole way here, I was just wondering what would happen. I was having hope that everything would be good, but in your mind, you always wonder, 'What if it doesn't?' Emotions just started to build and I was crying halfway on my walk down. I saw Sean standing there and he told me the news. It was like a huge weight was off my shoulder – boulders were lifted."