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The NCAA has granted an extension of eligibility waiver to Tiana Mangakahia, who will return for Syracuse in 2020-21 after battling breast cancer and missing all of last season. Before the waiver, last season would’ve been her last with the Orange under the NCAA’s five-year eligibility clock.

The Syracuse guard was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2019 and underwent treatment. Mangakahia had a successful double mastectomy in November and was declared cancer-free. SU honored Mangakahia with tributes and a halftime ceremony during Syracuse’s annual Pink Game in February, and she addressed the Carrier Dome crowd for the first time since her diagnosis.

Mangakahia was a 2019 All-American Honorable Mention. She led SU in points (16.9) and assists (8.4) during her junior season, and was a potential WNBA draft candidate, though she elected to return to SU for her senior year.

Now in her fifth year with the Orange, Mangakahia returns for a Syracuse side that finished eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s standings last year with a 9-9 conference record. Top-seeded Louisville eliminated the Orange in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.