10/30/2026 12:48:00
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10/30 12:46 CDT Kentucky appeals judge denies NCAA bid to block 30 athletes
from playing as hoops season draws near
Kentucky appeals judge denies NCAA bid to block 30 athletes from playing as
hoops season draws near
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Basketball Writer
The NCAA was denied emergency relief by a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge
Friday, leaving eligible a host of college athletes as the basketball season is
about to begin until a panel of three judges can consider the governing body's
request for relief.
The 30 athletes involved, including Missouri basketball player Mark Mitchell
and LSU's Skyy Clark, received a temporary injunction Oct. 16 to compete while
the NCAA appealed a ruling that allowed members of the 2022 high school
graduating class to play a final season in their respective sports under the
NCA's new five-for-five model.
Kentucky judge Sara Walter Combs wrote in her decision that the NCAA failed to
prove that the injunction created "imminent, ruinous and incalculable injury,"
and that it serves no purpose "to flip-flop repeatedly as our courts work
through the underlying issues."
Along with allowing the basketball players involved in the case to begin their
seasons next week, the ruling allows football players Alex Afari Jr. of
Kentucky, Texas Tech quarterback Thomas Castellanos and Louisville football
players Jabari Mack and Kalib Perry --- all of whom are also involved in the
litigation --- to continue to compete while the case plays out.
Multiple lawsuits filed in several states have focused on the NCAA's new
eligibility model due to be implemented next fall. It allows athletes five
years of eligibility beginning when an athlete turns 19 or graduates from high
school, whichever is earliest.
But the implementation excluded athletes who began college careers during the
2022-23 season and completed four years. And those athletes, including some who
have played for professional teams, are now suing to play their fifth season in
college.
The ruling in Kentucky came one day after the Ohio Supreme Court kept in place
a ruling from earlier this month allowing two dozen players involved in an
eligibility case there to remain available for their teams. The lead plaintiff
is Filip Borovicanin of Xavier, which opens its season Monday, while other
basketball players involved include Gonzaga's Javon Bennett and MJ Collins of
Cincinnati.
The NCAA legal office sent a memo to its members late Thursday saying it was
"deeply disappointed" by the outcome in Ohio.
"Every minute played by an ineligible player is an opportunity deprived to an
eligible student-athlete --- sometimes in the pinnacle events of a season," the
NCAA's letter said. "And it provides a significant competitive advantage to
schools rostering experienced players who exhausted their eligibility."
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