Court ruling halts fifth-year NCAA eligibility for some athletes

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals handed the NCAA a temporary victory on Friday, issuing a stay of a preliminary injunction that granted athletes from the high school class of 2022 an extra year of eligibility.

The 2-1 decision by the Tenth Circuit came after the NCAA appealed a Colorado federal judge’s temporary injunction allowing the 2022 athletes to play under the same rules as players currently in college. In June, the NCAA changed its rules to allow athletes to play five seasons within a five-year eligibility window, provided age requirements are met, but the rule was not applied retroactively.

The NCAA informed schools on Friday that the rules that applied before the Colorado decision were in effect.

The Colorado judge granted the injunction on July 31 in the federal class-action lawsuit filed by Brock Wisne, a Northern Colorado basketball player who said the NCAA violated antitrust law by barring him from playing a fifth season.

“The Tenth Circuit’s decision to stay the preliminary injunction issued by a Colorado federal district court judge in Wisne permits Division I to return to the status quo before the district court intervened,” an NCAA statement said. “Effective immediately, the age-based eligibility rules will be implemented as the Division I membership intended.

“Class members who were allowed to compete because of the Wisne injunction are no longer eligible to compete.”

Courts in states including California, Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee have ruled in favor of athletes named in lawsuits. Those athletes will not be impacted by the Colorado ruling.

An Ohio court also issued a temporary injunction that was stayed by the Ohio Court of Appeals.

“The Association will separately continue to defend other similar putative class-action lawsuits and the state court cases that have been filed by former student-athletes seeking additional eligibility,” the NCAA said in its statement. “We are encouraged by the Ohio Court of Appeals’ decision to stay the first of those injunctions pending our appeal.”

The ruling by the Tenth Circuit means high-profile football players, including Arizona running back Ismail Mahdi and defensive linemen Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt of Indiana, currently are ineligible to play in the 2026 season. They had been practicing with their teams but were not protected by state rulings.

–Field Level Media