Fifteen Division I college basketball players will have the opportunity to return for another season after arguing the NCAA excluded them from its new eligibility rules. Jeff Dean / Getty ImagesJuly 9, 2026 Updated 3:43 pm EDTOhio judge Christopher Wagner granted a temporary injunction on Thursday to 15 Division I college basketball players whose eligibility ran out after this past season, allowing them an opportunity to return for another year after they argued the NCAA unfairly excluded them from its new age-based eligibility rule.The lawsuit was filed less than 24 hours after the NCAA announced it was changing its eligibility rules to allow athletes 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.
“The NCAA is a ‘voluntary membership organization’ that controls, markets, and sells a product: student-athletes,” Wagner said in a court filing reviewed by 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.”Previously, athletes had five years in college to complete four full seasons of competition. The new rule eliminates redshirt years and almost all waivers that would be used to grant athletes extra seasons if they had extenuating circumstances such as injuries.The move is intended to limit the increasing number of athletes who participate in college sports beyond five years, and into their mid-20s by using waivers to gain additional seasons.This story will be updated.
