25-Year-Old All-American Tennis Player, Who Is an Asian Transfer Student, Reveals Endless Battle With NCAA Over Eligibility

Many individuals have a dramatic story as to how their careers flourish. However, this is a story about how a career ended before it could take off. This story involves hope, effort, and failure. Lisa Marie Rioux, a Japanese native, found her career halted at her farewell season. Rioux started playing tennis when she was 3 years old in Japan. She came to the US in order to learn English and advance her tennis skills. However, as luck would have it, she would face more adversity than she was prepared for. Her fight with NCAA, National Collegiate Athlete Association, is one to read for sure.

In her hometown of Okinawa, Rioux began playing tennis when she was three. When she was old enough to decide on her career, she came to the United States to take her game to the next level and learn English.

The dramatic story of Lisa Marie Rioux and the NCAA

When she arrived in the country, she started playing at Mississippi State in 2016 and played there till the year’s end. She played doubles with Jasmine Lee and attained the All-American honor given to amateur athletes. However, she did not agree with how her coaches handled certain situations and made her disdain known. In an individual tournament in which Lee and Rioux competed, Lee got injured. The entire story was covered by The O’Colly.

Rioux said that the situation aggravated as the coaches neglected to bring an athletic trainer. Rioux eventually transferred to Oklahoma State University. She was removed from the Mississippi State athletics website when she left Starkville. There was no biography or data left. They wiped most of the data of her career, including her All-American recognition.

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She received her release and transferred to OSU. However, she couldn’t play at first, as Mississippi denied her transfer request. Later, when was able to play, she achieved two more All-American honors along with her doubles partner, Ayumi Miyamoto. After the 2021-22 season, Rioux had one last season left with OSU. However, OSU needed the validity of the reasons behind Rioux’s transfer.

Mississippi State denied the reasons, which meant that Rioux couldn’t play with OSU anymore. Rioux did not give up easily. She, along with her peers and coach, gathered evidence and submitted it to the NCAA. Gathering all the evidence from the conversations with Mississippi State took them months. Yet, the NCAA denied Rioux’s evidence.

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This meant that her college career had ended. Others around Rioux felt the impact as well. Her doubles partner, Miyamoto, had to find a new partner. On the other hand, Rioux is looking forward to getting back to Okinawa. After the messy drawn out fight with the NCAA, she will be looking forward to stepping foot on the court again.

Even though she had to wait a year, Rioux felt she had made the right decision and believes that she has grown as a person throughout the kerfuffle.