College athletes from the Class of 2022 who had previously been granted an additional year of eligibility are now ineligible again, following a recent court decision. The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay in a Colorado district court case, reversing an earlier ruling that had provided a fifth year of eligibility to these players.
This decision means that Class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their eligibility last season are once more ineligible, unless they have secured individual temporary restraining orders (TROs) against the NCAA through separate lawsuits. The initial Colorado district court ruling on July 31 had temporarily granted an extra year of eligibility to these athletes.
Despite the 10th Circuit’s stay, some players maintain their eligibility due to TROs and injunctions obtained in state-level court cases. For example, 10 athletes in Kentucky were granted TROs shortly after the Colorado ruling. Former Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos also received a TRO, allowing him to return for a fifth season and enter the transfer portal.
The situation is expected to trigger a new wave of lawsuits in state courts. Lawyers and agents anticipate additional filings next week from players seeking to regain their fifth year of eligibility before the college football season begins. The season is set to start next Saturday for some teams, with all teams playing by Labor Day weekend.
Sources within college sports predict that the back-and-forth over eligibility will persist well into the season. This ongoing uncertainty could lead to players gaining and losing eligibility depending on court decisions from week to week.
In the Southeastern Conference (SEC), there is growing tension regarding player movement. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey previously reminded schools that the league’s strict intraconference transfer rules remain in effect. However, the SEC declined to comment on whether these rules would hold up amid the language of a Louisiana lawsuit that has allowed some players to transfer within the conference. The lawyer for the plaintiffs in the Louisiana lawsuit, Ryan Downton, believes the order should permit intraconference transfers and has initiated discussions with the SEC.
Multiple SEC schools reportedly believe the league’s ban on SEC-to-SEC transfers would not withstand legal challenge. LSU is reportedly considering several former SEC players for return, and former Missouri power forward Mark Mitchell, who received a TRO in Kentucky, has entered the transfer portal with Kentucky considered a favorite to sign him.
