An Ohio judge has granted a preliminary injunction to more than a dozen athletes seeking relief following the NCAA’s recent age-based, five-year eligibility policy change, attorneys told On3 Thursday afternoon.
The decision, which impacts Xavier‘s Filip Borovicanin and Cincinnati‘s MJ Collins, among others, has a few ramifications. First, the athletes gain eligibility for the 2026-27 season.
[ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ]
The injunction also grants the 15 athletes filing the suit the ability to transfer now outside of the NCAA’s designated transfer portal window. The transfer portal window for men’s basketball opened on Tuesday, April 7 and closed on Tuesday, April 21.
The other players listed in the lawsuit include Malik Messina-Moore, Kolby King, Javon Bennett, Chevalier Emery Jr., Jalen Quinn, Savannah White, Donovan Brown, Christian Henry, Ziare Wells, Cristian Carroll, Shawn Phillips Jr., Caden Powell and Josh Reed.
Collins played at Utah State last season for new Cincinnati head coach Jerrod Calhoun. He’s expected to play for the Bearcats in 2026-27 following the ruling on the injunction.
The age-based eligibility model calls for an athlete’s eligibility clock to begin upon initial full-time enrollment in college or at the beginning of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs earlier. The age-based eligibility implementation will begin this summer. Recruits starting in 2027 are age-based only.
“NCAA athletes have a reasonable expectation that they will be treated fairly by the NCAA and that NCAA rules will be applied consistently, regardless of the athlete’s background before they attend an NCAA school and regardless of the year in which they graduated from high school,” the lawsuit states. “For the last four years, 2022 high school graduates have been competing against older, stronger, and more experienced players allowed five (and even six) seasons of competition due to a Covid-era waiver granted to all athletes graduating high school and enrolling in college between 2017 and 2020.
“The NCAA has finally announced plans to formally codify the five years of competition on a permanent basis, with a final vote expected on June 22 or 23. But in doing so, the NCAA plans to intentionally exclude all current college seniors who graduated high school in 2022 and have not redshirted. That decision violates the covenant of good faith and fair dealing under Ohio law.”
Currently enrolled athletes with eligibility remaining after the 2025-26 academic year will be allowed to apply the age-based model or continue with the previous eligibility rules, whichever is most beneficial to that individual.
“While it is too late for most athletes who competed in the 2025-26 academic year to secure roster spots to compete in 2026-27, Plaintiffs all believe they still have opportunities to play in 2026-27 if they can obtain immediate injunctive relief from this Court, allowing them to sign scholarship and revenue sharing agreements with NCAA Division I schools along with third-party agreements compensating them for use of their name, image, and/or likeness,” per the suit.
On3’s Pete Nakos also contributed to this report.
