10th Circuit Pauses 'Five in Five' Waiver for 2022 Class
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- 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NCAA a stay in the Wisne (Colorado) ruling, pausing a blanket waiver that had allowed all 2022 high school graduates a fifth season, though the stay is temporary as the NCAA appeals the original decision.
- NCAA's 'five in five' rule, announced in June, creates a continuous five-year eligibility window starting no later than the semester after a player's 19th birthday, eliminating redshirts and most waivers — the exclusion of the 2022 high school class has spawned the wave of lawsuits.
- Players blocked from rosters under the stay include Denzel Aberdeen (who helped Florida win the 2025 national title before transferring to Kentucky), Seth Trimble (committed to Louisville after an NBA summer league stint with the Wizards) and Donovan Atwell (averaged 13.5 PPG at Texas Tech).
- Players currently eligible via state-court injunctions include Mark Mitchell (18.3 PPG, cleared by a Kentucky judge), Jaxon Kohler (Michigan State→BYU, cleared in California alongside Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark), AJ Storr (Ole Miss→UNLV, via Tennessee) and Darrion Williams (via Texas).
- Attorney Ryan Downton, who has spearheaded multiple state lawsuits, told ESPN that close to a dozen trial courts have examined 'five in five' and he is aware of only one that sided with the NCAA — though the NCAA did also win a ruling in Ohio earlier the same week.
- A Louisiana ruling opened the door for multiple athletes — including players currently in NFL training camps — to enter the transfer portal and play next season, with Downton signaling more state cases are coming.
Why it matters: Roster spots for the 2026-27 college basketball season now hinge on a patchwork of state-court injunctions rather than a single NCAA rule, creating real recruiting and competitive imbalance — roughly a dozen trial courts have weighed in against the NCAA (per Downton), so even the 10th Circuit win only slows, rather than resolves, the legal pressure on the 'five in five' framework.
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