When the NCAA announced its new eligibility model on June 23, it likely banked on a decline in legal challenges to its rules.
That decline may indeed come—but on Thursday, the NCAA lost yet another eligibility-related lawsuit for the road.
On Thursday, Judge Chris Wagner of the Hamilton County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas granted injunctive relief to a group of basketball players from the high school Class of 2022, who sued with the aim of being grandfathered into the NCAA’s new model.
“The NCAA is a ‘voluntary membership organization’ that controls, markets, and sells a product: student-athletes,” Wagner wrote via Ralph D. Russo and Justin Williams of The Athletic. “Despite arbitrarily excluding a class of athletes from taking part in a fifth season of intercollegiate competition, the NCAA seeks to evade judicial review and possibly punish member institutions for their participation in the legal process.”
The NCAA’s five-to-play-five model would have excluded members of the high school Class of 2022
The organization’s framework for the five-to-play-five model—which permits athletes to receive five flat years of eligibility if they enroll in college by the academic year after their 19th birthday—included specific language surrounding the fate of athletes who exhausted their eligibility under the old system this past academic year.
“Student-athletes who used their final season of competition (under previous rules) during 2025-26” gain “no additional eligibility,” the NCAA wrote in tabular form.
The injunction paves the way for the athletes who sued to enter the transfer portal. Per the AP, a pretrial conference is scheduled for Aug. 4.
The group of 15 players suing includes several notable names, in both the men’s and women’s games
Here’s a table of the plaintiffs.
| PLAYER | POSITION | 2026 TEAM | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filip Borovicanin | Forward | Xavier | 10.8 PPG in `26 |
| Malik Moore | Guard | Xavier | All-Big Sky for Montana in 2025 |
| MJ Collins | Guard | Utah State | All-Mountain West in `26; attempting to transfer to Cincinnati |
| Kolby King | Guard | Utah State | 10.4 PPG for Tulane in 2024; attempting to transfer to Cincinnati |
| Javon Bennett | Guard | Dayton | All-Atlantic 10 in `26 |
| Chevalier Emery | Guard | Cleveland State | Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year in `26 |
| Jalen Quinn | Guard | Drake | All-Missouri Valley in `26 |
| Savannah White | Forward | Xavier | 7.3 RPG in `26 |
| Donovan Brown | Guard | Massachusetts | 0.8 PPG in `26 |
| Christian Henry | Guard | Fordham | 10.7 PPG in `26 |
| Ziare Wells | Guard | Oakland | 9.9 PPG in `26 |
| Cris Carroll | Forward | Youngstown State | All-Horizon League in `26 |
| Shawn Phillips Jr. | Forward | Missouri | .683 FG% in `26; signed with the Pelicans on June 25 |
| Caden Powell | Forward | Baylor | 10.4 PPG in `25 for Rice |
| Josh Reed | Guard | Penn State | 11.5 PPG in `26 |
Most of these players are no slouches—the list includes five different All-Conference players, and two players who could play key roles as ex-Aggies coach (and Penguins coach) Jerrod Calhoun takes the reins of the Bearcats. The list also contains multiple junior college transfers and a productive former Division II player in Brown, Florida Tech’s leading scorer in `25.
Once again, the NCAA shoots itself in the foot—to a degree
The general public reaction to the five-to-play-five policy has been positive, as it will—in theory—eliminate longstanding procedural loopholes like redshirts and waivers. It will also save college sports from public-relations disasters like center Charles Bediako’s five-game return to Alabama in `26.
However, by refusing to grandfather in the high school Class of `22, the NCAA left itself open to what it needs least: yet another legal challenge. On June 26, in one of the most attention-getting headlines of the college sports offseason, Daniel Libit of Sportico reported that the NCAA’s five-year legal fees came out to a gobsmacking $293 million. That is, ironically, $13 million more than the CNBC-estimated worth of Cincinnati’s entire athletic department.
It’s easy to say that the NCAA made this problem for itself by not including a grandfather clause in the five-to-play-five rules, but consider the roster havoc the implementation of a grandfather clause right before the 2027 academic year has to potential to wreak. This may be a small legal tiff as the NCAA’s docket goes, but it could have big implications if it leads to relief for athletes across the country.
