College sports fans have transformed into judicial experts thanks to gross incompetence from the NCAA. Since the NCAA instituted it’s new five-for-five rule, without granting eligibility retroactively to the class of 2022, we’ve played a nauseating back-and-forth game between fifth-year players and the four-letter institution. I regret to inform you that the seesaw is tilting in a different direction, again.
Candidly, I am just as exhausted from all of this as you. That’s why I will try to explain this in the most succinct form possible.
Last Friday’s ruling in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals favored the NCAA. If players did not receive specific temporary restraining order (TRO) protections in state courts, they could not seek an additional year of eligibility.
Ignore the mess conferences have made over the last two days. The part that matters right now is what’s happening in state courts.
The NCAA had time to appeal state-level decisions that gave athletes TROs. Well, they’re finally securing some winning appeals in state courts.
After picking up a win in Ohio, on Wednesday, the NCAA was granted a stay in the state of Tennessee. Jalen Washington, a 6-foot-10 forward, transferred from Vanderbilt to Tennessee about a month ago, thanks to a TRO in Nashville. The winning appeal from the NCAA now makes him ineligible.
The news of the NCAA’s win dropped shortly after we learned that Mark Mitchell fit the criteria from the SEC’s new rule, allowing him to play for the Wildcats. Today’s ruling in Tennessee is a reminder that the NCAA can still fight the Louisville TRO to sideline Mitchell and a handful of other players.
When all of this madness started, the scales were tilted heavily in favor of the players. With classes underway across the country and football season on the horizon, it’s tilting back toward the NCAA.
The NCAA’s chief legal counsel shared the following message after Wednesday’s victory in court.
When will the dust finally settle? Your guess is as good as mine. I think we can all agree that the sooner we reach some sort of resolution, the better.
