A Hamilton County judge has issued a ruling that for now allows at least dozens of Division I college athletes to gain an additional year of eligibility.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Chris Wagner’s July 9 decision impacts both the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University men’s basketball teams, which can now add key players to their rosters.
Hamilton County Common Court Pleas Judge Chris Wagner presides over Shalonda Mixon’s hearing on Tuesday April 23, 2024 for a shooting that happened at her brother’s house last year in Anderson Township. Mixon pleaded guilty and was given 3 years probation and a $2,500 fine for tampering with evidence.
In a written decision, Wagner granted a preliminary injunction, blocking the NCAA from enforcing new eligibility rules that granted a fifth year to athletes who graduated high school in 2023 and all subsequent years – but excluded most who graduated in 2022.
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The NCAA “claims to value competition,” Wagner said. “However, it is unclear how these rules, arbitrarily enforced against these plaintiffs, promote competition.”
The preliminary injunction was granted in a lawsuit filed June 24 on behalf of two dozen college basketball players who are seeking a fifth year.
Wagner’s ruling means that Filip Borovicanin, who played at Xavier last season, and MJ Collins Jr. and Kolby King, who played for new UC head coach Jerrod Calhoun at Utah State last season, now would be eligible to compete in a fifth season.
Collins and Borovicanin both testified at a July 1 court hearing surrounding the preliminary injunction.
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Wagner also said the athletes would not be affected by any requirements of the NCAA’s “transfer portal.” At the July 1 hearing, an attorney for the NCAA asked Calhoun about new rules that impose sanctions on coaches and/or universities if they add a player to their roster, like King, who was not in the portal.
“Despite arbitrarily excluding a class of athletes from taking part in a fifth season of intercollegiate competition,” Wagner said, “the NCAA seeks to evade judicial review and possibly punish member institutions for their participation in the legal process.”
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Judge blocks NCAA from enforcing new eligibility rules
