15 Players Sue NCAA Over Class of '22 Eligibility
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- The NCAA Division I cabinet approved a new eligibility model allowing athletes five seasons of competition over five years beginning with full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, eliminating injury-based extensions and keeping waivers only for religious missions, pregnancy, or active-duty military service.
- Fifteen college basketball players filed suit Wednesday in Hamilton County (Cincinnati) seeking temporary and permanent injunctive relief to grant a fifth year to Class of 2022 high school graduates who enrolled in fall 2022 and never redshirted; attorneys Ryan Downton and Charles Rittgers argued the rule "unjustifiably restrains their ability to earn money through... NIL."
- A judge denied a temporary restraining order hours after the lawsuit was filed and scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for the following Wednesday, while attorneys indicated similar lawsuits are expected in other states.
- The complaint does not contest the five-for-five rule itself but argues the NCAA is applying it inconsistently — extending eligibility for the high school classes of 2017-20 and 2023-25 while denying the same to the Class of 2022, and separately permitting former professional players to compete in a fifth year regardless of pro games played.
- The Division I cabinet responded on X that it "does not intend to change course," stating the board made clear any rule change applies going forward and warning that retroactively adding seasons "would destabilize rosters just ahead of the coming season" and disrupt settled expectations of incoming freshmen.
- Nine of the 15 plaintiffs played or planned to play next season at Ohio schools, with the rest having played multiple games in the state under the complaint's allegations.
Why it matters: The lawsuit tests whether the NCAA can draw a hard cutoff for the Class of 2022 while having already extended eligibility for earlier and later COVID-affected cohorts — a retroactive carve-out would add roster spots for current players but, per the NCAA's own statement, would disrupt incoming freshmen and settled roster expectations weeks before the season.
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