DENVER – A recent ruling from a federal appeals court has created significant uncertainty for college athletes seeking an additional year of eligibility. On Friday, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted a previous district court order that would have allowed thousands of athletes, who left college after last season, to return for another year.
This legal battle stems from a lawsuit filed by players who graduated high school in 2022, whose eligibility concluded after the last college season. These athletes were not encompassed by the NCAA’s new rule, which permits most players five years of eligibility starting next season.
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After benefiting from a favorable ruling in district court last month, many of these players had begun making plans to return to their former teams as the football season approaches in the coming weeks.
The 2-1 decision by the appellate court now puts those plans on hold until the appeal can be fully adjudicated. This ruling aims to mitigate the ongoing confusion stemming from similar court decisions across the nation that had previously opened the door for these athletes to return.
Central to the case is the argument that the athletes should not be denied a fifth year and the accompanying educational and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities that younger players can access. The plaintiffs argued that fairness should prevail, as they were unjustly excluded from benefits now available under the new NCAA guidelines.
The NCAA, however, countered by asserting that “fairness is in the eye of the beholder.” In their legal argument, they emphasized the perspective of current student-athletes and institutions that have already structured their rosters based on existing eligibility rules. “Countless student-athletes already on campuses, and schools who built their rosters in reliance on the rules the NCAA’s membership wrote and agreed to follow, do not believe it is fair for thousands of formerly-ineligible athletes to return to competition at the start of the 2026–27 season,” the NCAA stated.
Among those eager to return were defensive linemen Kellan Wyatt and Stephan Daley, both integral to last season’s national champion Indiana team.
This latest ruling does not necessarily resolve the broader confusion within college athletics. The NCAA faces multiple lawsuits in various state and federal courts concerning the same eligibility issues, making the overall impact of this case difficult to predict.
In a notable twist, former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright, Zxavian Harris, and Wydett Williams recently won state court rulings in Louisiana that granted them another season of eligibility, even after signing with NFL teams this summer.
Basketball programs, for their part, have more time to navigate these complex eligibility issues. Teams are cautious about adding players who might later be ruled ineligible. Gonzaga, for instance, recently added Javon Bennett from Dayton and Chauncey Wiggins from Florida State, both of whom successfully litigated their eligibility in different courts.
“Some of us coaches told the NCAA over and over again, if they waited longer to announce this, they probably wouldn’t have this issue,” remarked Gonzaga coach Mark Few in a recent interview. “So I don’t know why anybody would not be open to it. Maybe you don’t need it, but if you do … these are good guys.”
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