A U.S. District Court judge in Colorado granted a preliminary injunction that gives college athletes from the high school Class of 2022 another year of eligibility for the coming school year.
Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney handed down the ruling Friday in response to plaintiffs challenging the NCAA’s newly approved age-based eligibility rule, which ran out the clock on college athletes from the Class of 2022 in the spring.
“I expect this to get appealed by the NCAA incredibly quickly,” said Sam Ehrlich, a former lawyer and a professor at Boise State who has been tracking litigation against the NCAA.
When the NCAA voted to change the eligibility rule to guarantee all athletes a five-year, age-based window to compete in their sport, it eliminated most waiver exceptions. The implementation date was set for Aug. 1. That left out Class of 2022 athletes whose eligibility expired under previous rules, which gave athletes five years to complete four full seasons.
The first lawsuit was filed in Ohio in the name of 15 men’s basketball players less than 24 hours after the NCAA announced the change. A judge there granted an injunction in early July and also cleared the way for all of those players to transfer if their previous schools could not take them back.
Another similar case filed by the same attorneys in Tennessee state court won an injunction for another group of players, including Vanderbilt’s Jalen Washington and Ole Miss guard AJ Storr, in a ruling that came down earlier Friday.
Plaintiffs have generally found more success challenging NCAA eligibility rules in state court, making claims under contract law rather than federal antitrust.In another case in Texas, former Longhorns offensive lineman Cole Hutson was granted a temporary restraining order by a judge in Travis County, home of the University of Texas. An injunction hearing in that case is still pending, but Hutson could return to the Longhorns after going through rookie minicamps with the Browns and Steelers as an undrafted free agent this spring.
The case in Colorado named 12 athletes, including former Minnesota basketball player Cade Tyson. Sweeney ruled that the injunction she granted should cover the entire Class of 2022 high school graduates who face similar circumstances.
Request for comment from the NCAA was not immediately returned.
Questions remain on how basketball programs will deal with 2022 players
Right now, there is no hotter-button issue in college basketball than how coaches and programs will handle the flood of players now potentially able to suit up next season.
And after The Athletic polled 25 high-major coaches on the subject earlier in July at Nike’s EYBL Peach Jam grassroots event, it’s clear opinions vary widely on how to approach this new pool of potentially available talent.
That’s because most coaches built their rosters this offseason with the NCAA’s intended rule change in mind, meaning players whose college careers began in 2022 would not be eligible. Accordingly, many filled all their roster spots and allocated all their revenue-sharing and NIL funds, completing their rosters months ago.
However, not every program was so fortunate — or, in some cases, ready to completely shut the door on recently graduated players. Multiple high-major programs intentionally kept a roster spot or two open, in case the Class of 2022 had legal success in gaining extra eligibility.
Plus, with many international prospects bogged down in NCAA limbo — and now uncertain to be eligible next season themselves — several programs who were planning on overseas additions suddenly found themselves with one or more holes to fill. And of course, there were some programs who simply lost out on pivotal recruits and found themselves in need of a talent infusion any way they could manage.
But just because players are now eligible again doesn’t mean that all, or even most, of college hoops’ recently graduated stars will be back next season. Just think of the resulting questions that have no clear answer:
How many teams still have open roster spots? Do they still have money to pay more players? Is that leftover amount worth players delaying, or passing on, professional careers abroad? Are coaches confident this ruling will hold up, and willing to commit a scholarship and resources on the strength of one ruling? What happens if a team signs one of these players, and they’re eventually deemed ineligible again before or during the season?
Every program will have its own answers and circumstances and risk tolerance.
That said, a handful of prominent programs stand out as most likely to benefit from Friday’s ruling.
Gonzaga, for instance, just saw starting point guard Mario Saint-Supery abruptly depart in the middle of the season to return to his native Spanish league, leaving Mark Few with a gigantic hole in his starting lineup. Texas Tech, which has struggled to fill out its roster while dealing with several uncertain internationals, needs bodies across the board, especially with All-American forward JT Toppin still recovering from a torn ACL. There’s also LSU, which has reportedly signed a bevy of high-impact international players … who may or may not be eligible, leaving the Tigers in need of additions, too.
The biggest name involved specifically in Friday’s ruling is former Minnesota wing Cade Tyson, the Big Ten’s sixth-leading scorer last season at 19.6 points per game, who also shot 41.6 percent from 3. Tyson profiles as a plug-and-play starting wing at the high-major level and should be one of the more sought-after talents made available by Friday’s court decision.
Other notable names who had previously earned court victories for extra eligibility include:
Utah State wing MJ Collins
Xavier forward Filip Borovicanin
NC State forward Darrion Williams
NC State forward Ven-Allen Lubin
NC State guard Tre Holloman
Vanderbilt forward Jalen Washington
Providence guard Jason Edwards
Miami forward Malik Reneau
Ole Miss wing AJ Storr
UCLA guard Donovan Dent
UCLA guard Skyy Clark
Michigan State forward Jaxon Kohler
Auburn forward Keyshawn Hall.
