Top players who have sued to return to college basketball after courts rule recent seniors can play fifth year
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- A Colorado judge granted a class-wide preliminary injunction allowing members of the high school Class of 2022 to seek eligibility for the 2026-27 season, with the NCAA pursuing an expedited appeal to overturn it.
- Individual state lawsuits in Ohio and Tennessee have already granted fifth-year eligibility to several players, with those paths considered more legally secure than the Colorado blanket waiver.
- Donovan Dent (UCLA) and Jordan Pope (Texas) lead a California age-based eligibility lawsuit, with Gonzaga a logical fit for Dent after Mario Saint-Supéry's departure to play for Valencia Basket in Spain.
- Most high-major rosters are already full, limiting landing spots despite the talent available; former Purdue star Braden Smith is eligible but is not returning to college.
- Five second-round NBA draft picks — including St. John's forward Dillon Mitchell and Vanderbilt guard Tyler Nickel — have yet to sign their contracts, keeping a college return path open.
- Darrion Williams (NC State, formerly Texas Tech) has Texas Tech as a logical destination after helping the Red Raiders reach the 2025 Elite Eight, while RJ Godfrey (Clemson) has Arizona lined up if granted eligibility.
Why it matters: Texas Tech (adding Williams and Stillwell) and Arizona (lining up Godfrey) can absorb impact veterans through this legal pathway, while the NCAA's expedited appeal and conflicting state rulings leave programs guessing which players are actually eligible — with the appellate process likely to outlast the offseason.
