A group of 15 college basketball players filed a lawsuit in an Ohio state court, claiming the new NCAA eligibility rule unfairly shuts them out of further competition. The NCAA will now allow 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.

Rule Change

The move will all but eliminate waivers or redshirt years for extended eligibility except for religious missions, pregnancy, or active-duty military service. No longer will extensions 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 lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cincinnati sought temporary and permanent injunctive relief that would allow a fifth year of competition for athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 and began their college sports careers that fall and never redshirted. A judge denied a temporary restraining order hours after the lawsuit was filed and scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday on the request for a preliminary injunction.

The new eligibility rule “unjustifiably restrains their ability to earn money through use of their name, image, and likeness (‘NIL’) connected to their work as Division I athletes,” attorneys Ryan Downton and Charles Rittgers wrote in the complaint.

Response from NCAA

The Division I Cabinet said in a statement that it was aware of legal action challenging its decision and that “we do not intend to change course.” The Cabinet said while age-based eligibility was under consideration, the Division I Board of Directors made clear any rule change would apply going forward and not retroactively to athletes whose eligibility was completed by the spring of 2026.

Original reporting: KSAT Sports (San Antonio) — read the source article.