On Monday evening, U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney denied the NCAA’s appeal to reverse her previous ruling in the federal class-action lawsuit brought by 11 Division I athletes. With Sweeney denying the NCAA’s request, the preliminary injunction granting eligible members of the high school class of 2022 a fifth year of competition remains in effect for the 2026-27 season.
In its decision, Yahoo Sports stated that Sweeney addressed the NCAA’s concerns about the injunction’s impact.
“And in this case, the record showed—and continues to show, as explained below—that the NCAA is in a bind of its own making,” Sweeney wrote in her order denying the stay Monday. “In other words, its own business judgment gave rise not only to the Court’s finding that Plaintiffs had shown that they were likely to succeed on the merits of their Sherman Act claim but also gave rise to exactly the ‘chaos’ about which the NCAA now complains. At bottom, the NCAA made its own choice which comes with its own consequences.”
The decision comes at a critical time for these athletes, with many fall sports beginning in just a few weeks. It gives eligible athletes another season to compete, but it does not eliminate the other rules surrounding their return. Sweeney previously clarified that the injunction does not change transfer rules, roster limits, revenue-sharing caps or NCAA rules regarding professional athletes.
Transfer questions remain
The ruling could significantly impact class of 2022 athletes who thought they had exhausted their eligibility, but it could also affect current players and coaching staffs. With many fall sports already finalizing their rosters, the addition of newly eligible athletes could create difficult roster and scholarship decisions for programs just weeks before the season.
Current players expected to have a roster spot could face increased competition if programs bring back athletes who previously believed to have exhausted their eligibility. Newly eligible athletes could face challenges of their own. NCAA transfer rules remain in place, including restrictions on adding athletes to any team outside of designated transfer portal windows. That could leave some athletes with another year of eligibility, but very limited options if their previous program no longer has roster space.
Not every athlete from the class of 2022 automatically qualifies for another year. The court did not block the age-based portion of the NCAA’s new eligibility model, meaning athletes who were 20 or older at the beginning of their college career are not covered by the injunction. Under the NCAA’s new model, an athlete’s eligibility clock begins with their initial full-time college enrollment or at the start of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.
The NCAA has continued to push back against the ruling and maintains that its age-based eligibility model should not apply to the class of 2022, as they were not originally included under the new rules.
NCAA Chief Legal Officer Scott Bearby addressed the decision in a statement shared by Yahoo Sports.
“The Division I Cabinet, including its student-athlete members, carefully considered whether to make the age-based eligibility rule apply retroactively, and decided that doing so would not be in the best interest of all current and future college athletes. We stand behind and will continue to fully defend the membership’s decision. The injunction should never have been granted, and we have asked the Tenth Circuit to permanently reverse it.”
For now, qualifying class of 2022 athletes remain eligible for another season while schools determine how those athletes fit into rosters that were largely constructed before the ruling. However, that does not mean the NCAA will stop fighting the decision.
