A starter from Washington‘s NCAA tournament run is among a group of athletes suing for a fifth season of eligibility.
Hannah Stines, the Huskies’ fifth-leading scorer from coach Tina Langley’s squad that won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 2016-17 last season, was listed Friday as one of the basketball athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA. The lawsuit seeks an injunction for the athletes to play the 2026-27 basketball season despite exhausting their college eligibility under previous NCAA rules, which were changed in late June.
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Class of 2022 recruits like Stines are not being grandfathered into the new rules, which allow for five seasons of competition with an athlete’s clock beginning either when they first enroll as a full-time student in college or at the beginning of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever comes first. Currently enrolled athletes, such as rising senior guard Sayvia Sellers at Washington, and athletes enrolling in 2026-27, like incoming Husky freshman Amayah Garcia, can use either the new or previous rules, whichever benefits the athlete the most. Athletes enrolling in the 2027-28 academic year will be subject to the new rules only.
An Ohio judge previously granted a similarly filed injunction for 24 basketball players earlier this month, which has prompted a series of other lawsuits seeking similar results in other states. California’s suit is headlined by UCLA men’s basketball players Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark.
Stines started 32 of 33 games as a senior, scoring 6.8 points with 2.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. 2025-26 was the worst shooting season of her career, as she split 37/27/64 percent from the field, three, and the free throw line, respectively. That lowered her career numbers to 40/32/76 percent from those three areas.
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After graduating, Stines did not receive a WNBA training camp invitation, unlike fellow 2022 signee Elle Ladine, who spent the offseason with the Seattle Storm. Should she return to Washington if an injunction is granted, she would fill out a Huskies backcourt that would be among the deepest in the country. Sellers and junior Avery Howell are potential All-Big Ten caliber players, Stines and Colorado State transfer Brooke Carlson bring starting experience alongside them, and Oklahoma State transfer Macey Huard, Kentucky transfer Kaelyn Carroll, returner Devin Coppinger, Hungarian signee Petra Toman, and Garcia add upside to the room.
Washington carried 14 players on their roster last season, of which six will return: Sellers, Howell, Coppinger, and forwards Brynn McGaughy, Nina Cain, and Daniella McLean. They added Carlson, Huard, Carroll, and North Carolina State forward Tilda Trygger in the transfer portal and signed Garcia from the high school ranks and Toman from overseas to bring the current roster to 12, meaning that they have two spots remaining to allocate to Stines and another player if the California injunction is granted.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington WBB guard among athletes suing for eligibility
