The NCAA has responded to a lawsuit filed by more than a dozen college athletes who have used up their eligibility and are seeking a fifth year under recently implemented new rules.
In a response filed June 30, the NCAA said allowing those athletes to compete in a fifth year would “create chaos” and “throw the collegiate athletic landscape into turmoil.”
Advertisement
The lawsuit was filed June 24 in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court on behalf of 15 college basketball players who used up their four years of eligibility at the end of the 2025-26 season. The players want to compete in the upcoming, 2026-27 season.
The previous day, the NCAA had approved an overhaul of its eligibility rules for Division I schools, allowing athletes to compete in five seasons over five years. Players previously were allowed four seasons of eligibility in five years.
Common Pleas Judge Chris Wagner on July 1 is scheduled to hear arguments about whether to issue an injunction that would allow athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 to compete in a fifth year.
The NCAA said allowing those athletes to compete in an additional year would likely take roster spots from those who already had been promised spots on those teams.
Advertisement
It would destabilize teams that already have set their rosters, according to the NCAA, and affect thousands of athletes who chose schools at least partly based on how much playing time they thought would be available.
Commissioners of the major conferences – the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Big East – signed a document supporting the NCAA.
“Allowing these student-athletes to stay and compete for an additional fifth year that their schools’ athletic departments did not previously plan for would create significant roster instability,” the commissioners said. And those athletes “would potentially take roster spots from individuals to whom the spots were previously promised,” including incoming freshmen.
Xavier, potential UC players are plaintiffs in NCAA lawsuit
Plaintiffs in the Hamilton County lawsuit include Filip Borovicanin and Malik Messina-Moore who played for Xavier’s men’s basketball team as seniors for the 2025-26 season. Xavier’s roster is already at the 15-player limit, which means two players would have to leave to make room for them for the upcoming season.
Advertisement
Savannah White, who played for Xavier in 2025-26 is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit and is the only women’s basketball player named.
Former Utah State players MJ Collins Jr. and Kolby King, who played for new University of Cincinnati men’s basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun, are also named as plaintiffs. As it stands, UC’s current roster is at 13 players, two below the 15-player limit.
Sources close to UC basketball have told The Enquirer that several hurdles would have to be overcome to add King and Collins Jr. to the team’s 2026-27 roster.
The NCAA said in court documents that King did not enter the transfer portal, and UC would be subject to significant penalties if he is on its roster for the 2026-27 season.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: NCAA says allowing 5th year for some players would ‘create chaos’
