07/09/26 04:07:00
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07/09 16:06 CDT Ohio judge grants preliminary injunction for men's, women's
hoops players suing NCAA for eligibility
Ohio judge grants preliminary injunction for men's, women's hoops players suing
NCAA for eligibility
CINCINNATI (AP) --- An Ohio judge has granted a preliminary injunction for 24
men's and women's college basketball players suing the NCAA for eligibility,
claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition.
Judge Christopher Wagner said Thursday the NCAA eligibility rules have been
applied to 2022 high school graduates in an arbitrary and capricious manner,
adding the plaintiffs would suffer "irreparable injury" without an injunction.
"We hope the NCAA reconsiders its position and allows all other similarly
situated athletes from the high school class of 2022 to compete for remaining
roster spots in all sports," attorney Ryan Downton said.
Wagner's ruling allows the athletes in the lawsuit an opportunity to enter the
transfer portal. He scheduled a conference for Aug. 4 to prepare for a trial.
"While we will seek to overturn this ruling, it is now apparent that Congress
must act swiftly to restore stability, uniformity, and fair competition in
college athletics," the NCAA said in a statement.
The Protect College Sports Act has moved forward with Senate committee approval
in June. However, the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences oppose the bill
designed to stabilize college sports and are seeking revisions.
Downton has filed similar lawsuits against the NCAA on behalf of nearly 30
men's and women's basketball players.
The lawsuit in Cincinnati was filed shortly after the NCAA Division I Cabinet
approved a monumental change in eligibility rules last month.
"When each plaintiff completed their fourth season of competition during the
2025-26 academic year, they had every reason to know it was the end of the line
and time to make way for the next generation of college athletes," the NCAA
wrote in a filing.
The plaintiffs are seeking to be eligible to play a fifth year during the
upcoming season, representing athletes who graduated from high school in 2022
and began their college sports careers that autumn and never redshirted.
"Each plaintiff was harmed each time he or she competed in a basketball game
against a fifth or sixth-year player without being offered the same opportunity
to compete in a fifth season themselves," Downtown wrote in a filing.
The NCAA now allows athletes five seasons of competition over a five-year
period that begins with their full-time enrollment or the academic year
following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.
The move will all but eliminate waivers or redshirt years for extended
eligibility except for religious missions, pregnancy or active-duty military
service. Extensions will no longer be considered for athletes who are injured.
Athletes whose eligibility expired by spring 2026 under the traditional model
--- four years of competition over five years --- will not be allowed a fifth
year of competition under the new rules that go into effect this fall.
The Division I Cabinet has said in a statement posted on X that it was aware of
legal action challenging its decision and that "we do not intend to change
course."
Three basketball players, including Xavier forward Filip Borovicanin of Serbia,
and three coaches, including Xavier coach Richard Pitino, along with an agent
testified at a hearing in Cincinnati earlier this month, while the NCAA did not
call any witnesses.
Wagner appeared to be critical of the NCAA in his written ruling, saying the
governing body resembles "a highly profitable professional sports league," more
than its argument of being a voluntary association.
"The court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that plaintiffs will suffer
irreparable injury if the preliminary injunction is not granted," Wagner said.
The NCAA said the decision was wrong.
"We will immediately seek all avenues for reversal, including a stay of the
court's order pending appeal," the NCAA said. "The court disregarded over a
century of precedent and substituted its own judgment, on a limited factual
record, for the collective expertise of the nation's leading higher education
institutions."
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