The NCAA’s new “five-for-five” legislation has, naturally, led to lawsuits. One Oklahoma State men’s basketball player is involved in a new one.
Forward Parsa Fallah, who was already seeking a waiver to play in 2026-27 after suffering a late-season knee injury, is part of a suit filed in California designed to challenge the new age-based rule and give up to 45 student-athletes an injunction to play next season, per On3.com (subscription required)
The suit was filed by attorneys Darren Heitner and Ryan Downton. Heitner is the attorney representing OSU guard Kashie Natt in a separate injunction that, for now, makes Natt eligible to play next season.
Parsa Fallah Part of New Suit
The NCAA’s new age-based rule was approved last month and gives student-athletes five years to play five years. That rule starts for incoming freshmen in 2026-27. For those students that have eligibility remaining, the NCAA will apply the current and former rule, and the student-athlete will get the amount of eligibility most advantageous to them.
The rule did not account for seniors in 2025-26 who played four years without a redshirt. Several lawsuits have been filed nationwide to gives those four-year seniors an option to play in 2026-27. The NCAA is fighting it in court.
Natt and Fallah are unique in that both have played more than four years. Natt played one year at a junior college and then four years at four-year institutions. The NCAA claims that Natt has already used the “Pavia waiver” given to most juco athletes a couple of years ago. Heitner and his client filed the suit asserting that Natt’s clock began when he enrolled at a four-year school and he has one more year.
For now, an Oklahoma district court judge agreed to implement the injunction so Natt could play. More legal action is pending.
In June, OSU head coach Steve Lutz told reporters that a scholarship had been set aside for Fallah as he attempted to get a waiver for one more season.
The Iran native has been in college for five years — three at Southern Utah, including a redshirt, followed by one at Oregon State and one at Oklahoma State. Lutz indicated the waiver Fallah sought was related to his delayed journey to the U.S.
This suit is on behalf of student-athletes who were part of the Class of 2022, played four years without a redshirt and were not grandfathered into the new rule. Per Southern Utah’s web site, Fallah was on its 2021-22 roster but did not play. That was his redshirt season. OSU’s web site credits him with playing at SUU from 2022-24 and in parts of three seasons, with a redshirt the first year.
Given that student-athletes have scored early wins in these suits, aligning himself with this suit may make Fallah’s path to playing sometime next season a reality, assuming he recovers fully from the ACL tear that ended last season in February.
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