Colorado judge grants fifth-year eligibility to NCAA athletes
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- Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S. District Court of Colorado issued a class-wide preliminary injunction on Friday requiring the NCAA to declare athletes from the high school class of 2022 eligible for a fifth season after the NCAA's new Five-Year Eligibility Rule barred them.
- The transfer portal under the TRO would open Aug. 3 and close one week later, covering all U.S. athletes who began collegiate sports in 2022-23, competed in NCAA Division I, and completed four years of eligibility by the end of 2025-26.
- NCAA president Charlie Baker blasted the ruling in a statement released shortly after the decision, and the source notes an NCAA appeal would make the discussion moot.
- Smaller-scale rulings preceded the injunction: an Ohio state court judge opened eligibility for 15 men's basketball players including Xavier's Filip Borovicanin and Cincinnati's MJ Collins, while UCLA's Donova Dent and Texas's Jordan Pope are part of a separate age-based eligibility lawsuit in California.
- Many potential returners have already signed NBA contracts — Braden Smith signed a two-way deal with the Indiana Pacers and Ohio State's Bruce Thornton was drafted No. 31 with a standard contract — making their college return unlikely even though they'd technically be eligible.
- Florida, projected preseason No. 1, stands to benefit from guard Denzel Aberdeen's potential return as it pursues a second national title in three years, though coaches across the sport would have to reevaluate rosters already built for 2026-27.
- The ruling comes as the NCAA's new "five-for-five" eligibility model — giving all athletes five years to play five seasons — is set to take effect this academic year.
Why it matters: The injunction could destabilize rosters that Division I coaches finalized this offseason, since most teams budgeted assuming 2022-class athletes were done. Players who went undrafted or signed Exhibit 10 and two-way deals now have a legal opening to return to college, while the NCAA's parallel five-for-five model and Baker's opposition suggest an appeal that could undo the ruling before the Aug. 3 portal window.
