Former Mizzou center Shawn Phillips Jr. now has a temporary legal path to pursue another season of college basketball after an Ohio judge granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the NCAA.
Judge Christopher Wagner, of Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction in an order entered Wednesday.
Phillips is one of 24 players in a lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s new eligibility rule.
The lawsuit centers on basketball players who graduated high school in 2022, played four seasons of college basketball and argue they were excluded from an NCAA rule change that would allow some athletes to compete in five seasons without redshirting.
The court order said the NCAA’s upcoming rule change, approved June 23, will allow basketball players who graduated high school after 2022 to compete in five seasons without needing to redshirt. The order said the NCAA excluded athletes who graduated high school in 2022 from a fifth year of eligibility unless those athletes were previously redshirted.
Wagner’s order grants the plaintiffs relief from NCAA Bylaw 12.6, the NCAA’s intercollegiate competition rule. The order also grants the plaintiffs relief from the requirements of the transfer portal.
The transfer portal portion could be important for Phillips. The order said the players had no reason to enter the transfer portal if they believed they were not eligible to play.
The ruling applies only to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The order does not guarantee Phillips a roster spot. The court wrote that the plaintiffs are “not necessarily guaranteed a spot on any team if they are deemed eligible to play” and are seeking the opportunity to compete for a spot.
The decision is not the final ruling in the case.
“The Court’s findings are based on the limited record presented to the Court,” the order states. “This is a Preliminary Injunction, not a final judgment.”
Phillips played one season at Missouri after previous stops at LSU and Arizona State. He started 31 games for the Tigers during the 2025-26 season, averaging 7.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, according to Mizzou Athletics. He also averaged 1.52 blocks per game and shot 68.3% from the court.
Mizzou Athletics announced June 25 that Phillips had signed his first professional contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. However, his name was not listed on the Pelicans’ official opening-day Summer League roster.
What’s next for Phillips?
The court order gives Phillips a path to pursue college basketball again, but it does not automatically return him to Missouri.
A return to Mizzou has not been announced, and the Tigers already have 15 players on their 2026-27 roster.
Missouri also has several frontcourt options listed, including Trent Burns and Luke Northweather. The Tigers added more size in the offseason with Kansas transfer Bryson Tiller and Tennessee transfer Jaylen Carey.
That makes Phillips’ path back to college basketball more likely to come outside Columbia.
