![Arike Ogunbowale with partner Gleb Savchenko on "Dancing with the Stars" [Image: Dancing with the Stars/YouTube screenshot]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/5/4/660x290/b_502x220x82/arike-ogunbowale-with-partner-gleb-savchenko-on-dancing-with-the-stars-image-dancing-with-the-starsyoutube-screenshot_1971613.jpg "Arike Ogunbowale with partner Gleb Savchenko on \"Dancing with the Stars\" [Image: Dancing with the Stars/YouTube screenshot]")
Season 26 of "Dancing with the Stars: Athletes" premiered on ABC on Monday, April 30. This season is a short one of only four weeks. For the first time ever, there is live voting where the public can select their favorites to continue.
After the eliminations of two couples last week, eight couples remain including Arike Ogunbowale with partner Gleb Savchenko. The college basketball legend and Notre Dame's junior is on the show with rules that don't apply to the other contestants.
1. Youngest contestant this season
Notre Dame's point guard is the youngest contestant on the show this season, but she is not the youngest who has ever competed.
There have been several other contestants who were much younger than the 21-year-old basketball player. The youngest who has ever competed was Willow Shields in Season 20 when she was only 14.
2. First college athlete
Ogunbowale is the first college athlete to ever appear on the show. This is the first time the NCAA has allowed this to happen. The tentative experiment comes with some restrictions for the member of the women's basketball team who recently won the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament. This year's tournament's Most Valuable Player had to get a waiver to compete.
3. Ogunbowale's restrictions
Because Arike still plays for Notre Dame, she is considered an NCAA athlete. Therefore, she is not allowed to promote the show or her appearance on it in any way.
She cannot post anything about the show on social media. She cannot appear in any promotional or advertisement whatsoever. Neither can the school promote her or encourage others to vote for her. Now we know why the college athlete didn't appear in person with the other celebrities on "Good Morning America" when the cast was revealed.
Queen Arike Ogunbowale was on Dancing with the Stars last night rocking sneakers and her ability to get PAID and use her likeness commercially may change the NCAA’s draconian rules. https://t.co/R0QQgF30GX
— CRT (@StoryofEverest) May 1, 2018
The other couples have been posting photos and videos of their rehearsals on social media, but there is nothing on Ogunbowale or her partner's social media accounts about her participation.
Fortunately, Arike will get to keep any money she receives from the show because of the wording that was in her waiver. Emily James, the NCAA's associate director of public relations, explained that any money would be the result of Arike's dancing performance that is unrelated to her NCAA basketball abilities.
4. Never worn heels
During the first night of her performance, Arike convinced her partner to let her dance in sneakers because she can't dance in heels. She said she can barely walk in them. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba told her she has to dance in heels from now on. The judges frown on competitors dancing in sneakers on the ballroom floor.
5. Setting a precedent
It is possible that Ogunbowale's appearance will set a precedent for others to follow in her footsteps to compete in the future.
It is a good thing that she has been permitted to participate and keep her college eligibility. Because she cannot promote herself, and her college cannot promote her, it might cause her not to get enough votes to keep her on the show.
