Late Sunday, the NCAA filed an emergency motion in hopes that a federal judge will stay a nationwide injunction she granted that allows a potential extra year of eligibility for a class of college athletes who completed high school in 2022.
The NCAA wants the stay until there’s a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
The NCAA’s brief points out that if the injunction stands, potentially thousands of college athletes, including freshmen, will lose their roster spots to older athletes. This is because the total number of roster spots across Division I is fixed, so one athlete taking a slot displaces another.
Those displaced younger athletes would be harmed, possibly in a way the law could remedy. It wouldn’t be a surprise for displaced athletes to file their own lawsuits and seek injunctions.
Displacement would be especially problematic in August, with the fall semester about to start, as it could be extremely difficult for a displaced athlete to find another school with an athletic opportunity and an academic program of interest.
