Eleven Division I college athletes, including basketball standouts Cade Tyson and Brock Wisne, have filed a federal class action lawsuit in Colorado that alleges the NCAA's new five-years-of-eligibility rule has adversely affected their ability to extend their college careers and the NIL benefits that come with them.
Athletes who exhausted their eligibility during the 2025-26 academic year were not granted an additional season, per the reporting of Myron Medcalf for ESPN. The NCAA's new eligibility rules eliminate most waivers and redshirts, and the new eligibility clock for all athletes will begin when they enroll in college or the semester after they turn 19.
"If successful, the federal lawsuit could essentially nullify the NCAA's new eligibility rules for a massive pool of athletes across all sports who would then be allowed to enter the transfer portal and extend their careers," Metcalf reported Monday. "With football season set to begin in a month, a ruling in favor of these athletes could alter the college landscape for the upcoming season. If it's defeated, it could also signal a significant ruling in favor of the NCAA, which has faced numerous state lawsuits already regarding its new eligibility rules."
"These athletes aren't asking for special treatment," said Rob Shelquist, a partner at Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, LLP, in a statement, per ESPN. "They're asking to not be singled out and excluded from the NCAA's eligibility framework. The NCAA updated the rules but refused to apply them only to the very group that was most immediately affected. If the NCAA has determined that five years of eligibility is the fair rule for college athletes, then athletes who would still be eligible but for completing four years of eligibility should not be deprived of the same educational, athletic, and NIL opportunities."
Last week, an Ohio judge granted 24 men's and women's college basketball players a preliminary injunction to continue their college careers and enter the transfer portal after they'd been ruled ineligible by the NCAA after they alleged the NCAA's new system unfairly impacts them, Metcalf reported. The NCAA's Division I cabinet responded to that decision by stating on social media, "we do not intend to change course."
According to Metcalf, the federal class action lawsuit filed Monday entails similar claims from the athletes who allege they've been "arbitrarily singled out" by the NCAA's new eligibility rules.
"Plaintiffs are a talented group of NCAA Division I collegiate athletes and students who come to this Court as a last resort and as a direct result of the NCAA's unlawful action in implementing a new eligibility rule on June 24, 2026 (hereinafter the 'Five-Year Eligibility Rule') in a manner designed to prevent Plaintiffs from playing their sports at an NCAA member college or university for the 2026-2027 season," the federal class action complaint states.
"Unless the Court grants Plaintiffs both immediate and lasting relief, Plaintiffs will incur significant irreparable harm and monetary damages. More specifically, Plaintiffs will forever lose the opportunity to complete the remainder of their collegiate careers alongside their teammates who will benefit from the rule change--as well as significant Name, Image, and Likeness ("NIL") compensation that is contingent on them playing this next season. And in some cases, despite the NCAA's stated concern for athletes' educational opportunities, Plaintiffs will lose the scholarships and opportunities that they are counting on to finish their desired degrees."
