A U.S. District Court judge in Colorado granted a preliminary injunction to plaintiffs challenging the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility rule that would make college athletes from the high school Class of 2022, whose eligibility had run out, eligible for the upcoming school year. The ruling is far more wide-reaching than some of the piecemeal suits that have been filed about the new eligibility rules, and it could mean that Nebraska coaches, both in football and basketball, should be ready to deal with an unplanned portal season just as fall camps are kicking off.
When the NCAA changed the eligibility rule to guarantee all athletes a five-year, age-based window instead of the old standard five years to play four seasons, it eliminated most waiver exceptions. It then also set the implementation date for August 1, and that’s where the problem started.
The implementation date left out class 2022s whose eligibility expired under previous rules, which gave athletes five years to complete four full seasons. Former Nebraska basketball players Jamarques Lawrence and Kendall Blue were among the many, many players left out in the cold. Blue was already among those who filed a suit to try and get that final year back.
The cascade of suits has chipped away pretty regularly at the powers of the NCAA to keep these players out. The first lawsuit was filed in Ohio in the name of 15 men’s basketball players less than 24 hours after the NCAA announced the change. A judge there granted an injunction in early July and also cleared the way for all those players to transfer if their previous schools could not take them back.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers could target newly eligible Class of 2022 transfers
Another filing in Tennessee won an injunction for another group of players, including Vanderbilt’s Jalen Washington and Ole Miss guard AJ Storrs, in a ruling that came down earlier Friday. The Colorado court followed that.
U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney ruled that the injunction she granted should cover the entire class of 2022 high school graduates who face similar circumstances. That’s where things get interesting for Nebraska coaches. There will be a wave of players looking to transfer from August 3 to August 10, and the Huskers would be fools not to at least test the waters and see who was available.
Because these players are joining just as fall camp in football kicks off, they won’t even miss that much time in the fall practices with their new teams. Meanwhile, basketball players and other athletes will join the school well before fall practices start, making it that much more attractive.
The issue, of course, is whether schools like Nebraska can be creative enough with their rosters to take advantage. They’d be smart to do so, as plenty of their rivals will be moving things around to make it work.
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