Courts hand NCAA major loss on five-year eligibility rule

DENVER (AP) — A federal court dealt a perhaps chaos-inducing blow to the NCAA's new eligibility rule Friday when it ruled that all high school class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their fourth season of college eligibility this spring are eligible for a fifth season this school year.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney in Denver, expected to be appealed, undercuts the NCAA's plan to have the so-called “five for five” rule go into play starting with athletes who enroll in college in fall 2027.

It also has potential to wreak havoc on rosters across the country — for instance, opening the possibility that an undrafted player in an NFL training camp could decide to try to head back to college for a fifth year this upcoming season.

In granting the preliminary injunction, Sweeney said the players “will suffer irreparable harm without” it. She did not sign onto the governing body’s argument that applying the new rule retroactively would create “roster chaos.”

But NCAA President Charlie Baker said it would in responding to the rulings while referencing a bill in Congress designed to provide the NCAA antitrust protection on the eligibility issues.

“Today's rulings and the chaos they bring to college sports are exactly why it's time to pass this bill,” Baker said.

The Colorado ruling came hours after a Tennessee court granted Jalen Washington, who most recently played at Vanderbilt, and 18 other basketball players a fifth season of eligibility.

In June, the NCAA approved its new eligibility model for Division I athletes that will allow 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.

While the ruling in Tennessee applied to those 19 basketball players, the one in Colorado cast a wider net, granting the class certification the plaintiffs sought. It means the ruling applies to all Division I players who started their college careers in the 2022-23 season, not just a select list.

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