The NCAA won a federal appeals court reversal Friday of a lower court decision that extended fifth-year eligibility to athletes who graduated from high school in 2022.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled in Wisne v. NCAA, overturning a July district court order that applied the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility rule retroactively to the class of 2022. The NCAA’s policy grants five years of eligibility only to athletes entering college beginning with the next year’s class after 2022.
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That lower court ruling created roster uncertainty across Division I. Some athletes previously ruled ineligible rejoined teams, including Texas Tech quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who appeared on and off the football roster during the regular season. Women’s college basketball season began this week amid similar legal uncertainty.
The three-judge panel — led by Judge Carolyn McHugh — found the plaintiffs failed to define a coherent market for Division I athletes. It rejected their claim that all Division I players constitute one market, noting sport-specific limitations: “A football player seeking a Division I roster spot would not consider the 101 schools without football programs as reasonable alternatives.”
The decision does not resolve approximately 200 pending state court lawsuits involving as many as 850 athletes. NCAA chief legal officer Scott Bearby called the ruling “consistent with the approach taken by every federal court of appeals” and emphasized concerns that retroactive eligibility changes “can destabilize rosters and disrupt the settled expectations of student-athletes regarding roster spots and playing time.”
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