June 8, 2004

WACO, Texas - Two Baylor student-athletes, football's John Martin and women's basketball's Chanelle Fox, have been granted a sixth year of athletic eligibility by the NCAA national office. Both student-athletes now have two more years of eligibility and will be listed as juniors on their respective rosters. In addition, both graduated from Baylor in May ceremonies with bachelor's degrees.

Under NCAA Division I rules, each student-athlete has a five-year eligibility clock to complete four years of athletic participation. Both Martin and Fox will have two more years of athletic eligibility for the academic years 2004-05 and 2005-06. The ruling for the extension is called the NCAA Five-Year Rule Waiver (Bylaw 30.6).

Fox, a 5-10 guard from Houston, injured her knee midway through the 2001-02 season and underwent reconstruction surgery. She appeared in only four games in 2002-03 before being sidelined again with knee problems. After undergoing another reconstructive surgery in late July, she sat the 2003-04 campaign. She has started in 46 of 57 games and is considered to be one of the Lady Bears' best defensive players. Fox has averaged 19.5 minutes a game and 4.5 points and 4.0 rebounds throughout her career. Fox has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll several times and is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, a telecommunications honor society.

Martin, a 6-0 wide receiver out of Stillwater, Okla., missed the final eight games last year due to illness. Martin is expected to begin the year as Baylor's No. 1 receiver. He has 54 career receptions and needs 23 catches to crack the Bears' all-time list. He is an outstanding student-athlete as well, twice earning first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors and he was named first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District in 2003.