NCAA blocked by temporary restraining order

[Da Coach]

This is interesting... The NCAA has denied many transfer players their immediate eligibility this season based on the decision not to allow waivers for 2nd or 3rd time transfers.
One transfer, RaeQuan Battle, who played 2 seasons at Washington, and 2 seasons at Montana State and who transferred again and is now at West Virginia, is one of the many players denied eligibility based on this ruling. He sued the NCAA to get this decision rescinded.
The US Federal District Court in Wheeling, West Virginia heard the case today and has issued a 14-day Temporary Restraining Order, which reinstates RaeQuan Battle's eligibility.- https://twitter.com/RossDellenger/st...06478203818094

This is not a final decision on the case, but it does temporarily allow Battle to be eligible.
The questions now are:
1) with this TRO, do the dozens of other players who have been denied eligibility based on the same arbitrary rule of the NCAA go ahead and file a lawsuit for themselves?
2) Does West Virginia reinstate Battle to their active lineup, since this TRO is only for 14 days, and it is not known what the final ruling on Dec. 27 might be?
3) If West Virginia does reinstate Battle and he plays, and the case eventually gets ruled in favor of the NCAA, is there a possibility the NCAA could have grounds to charge West Virginia with rules violations for playing Battle, who they will claim was not eligible? And will the NCAA be able to vacate any wins and/or impose further punishments?
4) Will there be other D1 schools who go ahead and reinstate currently ineligible players in similar situations, under the assumption that this ruling will be applied to all such transfers?

For the record, todays ruling by the Wheeling, WV, Federal District court only applies to the states involved in the lawsuit, which includes 7 states' Attorney Generals- West Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, Illinois, New York, North Carolina and Tennessee
And apparently, there are reports that the judge did "clarify that the NCAA *cannot* enforce bylaw 12.11.4.2, which could mean the organization cannot penalize schools later on for playing transferring athletes during the 14-day TRO".- https://twitter.com/RossDellenger/st...18389419049247

https://www.on3.com/os/news/judge-grants-14-day-temporary-restraining-order-raequan-battle-lawsuit-over-ncaas-transfer-waiver-rules/

[Da Coach]

Schools with 2-time transfers who are sitting out are suddenly scrambling to get their legal advisors to advise them on what to do next- https://twitter.com/AndrewAbadie/sta...22062446559590

Here is a list of some of the players this could apply to- https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/sta...19144293052829

Note that Peoria's Adam Miller is one of them. He is currently sitting out at Arizona State as a 2-time transfer (Illinois->LSU->AZ State)

The only MVC player on that list is Aaron Gray at Indiana State (there could be others). He is a 6'7" junior forward who played his freshman season at D2 Southern New Hampshire, where he averaged 15.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg, and his sophomore season at Niagara, where he averaged 12.4 ppg and 4.5 rpg. So he could possibly become eligible to play for INSU this season with this ruling.

[Da Coach]

One other MVC player in the above category is 6'8" forward Jerrett Hensley, who is currently sitting out at Southern Illinois.
He played one season at UNC-Greensboro and 2 seasons at Cincinnati- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...arrett-hensley

SIU's Jerrett Hensley- https://siusalukis.com/news/2023/5/1...arrett-hensley

[bradleyfan124]

Where does this all end. We have to have rules that need to be followed. To counter this means you have no rules. And that is chaos

[tomahawk chop]

Where does this all end. We have to have rules that need to be followed. To counter this means you have no rules. And that is chaos

Agree, right now it seems like there are no rules. The NCAA pretty much is an organization in limbo. These courts continue on down this path and players will be allowed to leave schools anytime they want and transfer to other ones without penalty. With the NIL and now this the smaller schools do not stand a chance in competing against the BCS ones. These liberal rulings stink.

[Da Coach]

It appears the NCAA will not appeal or dispute this ruling.
They released a statement saying they will allow all transfers to be eligible immediately-

"As a result of today's decision impacting Division I student-athletes, the Association will not enforce the year in residency requirement for multi-time transfers and will begin notifying member schools."

Source: https://twitter.com/ByPatForde/statu...31108222218512

Even though it might have been good to have some deterrence to slow the rapidly increasing transfer phenomenon, for the NCAA to try to stand their ground and fight this legal battle would have done more harm to college athletics.

[Da Coach]

Schools with 2-time transfers who are sitting out are suddenly scrambling to get their legal advisors to advise them on what to do next- https://twitter.com/AndrewAbadie/sta...22062446559590

Here is a list of some of the players this could apply to- https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/sta...19144293052829

The only MVC player on that list is Aaron Gray at Indiana State (there could be others). He is a 6'7" junior forward who played his freshman season at D2 Southern New Hampshire, where he averaged 15.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg, and his sophomore season at Niagara, where he averaged 12.4 ppg and 4.5 rpg. So he could possibly become eligible to play for INSU this season with this ruling.

Looks like Indiana State could gain more depth now that the NCAA will allow 2-time transfers to be eligible. Depth in their front court might be their only weakness. When center Robbie Avila has been off the floor, Head Coach Josh Schertz usually plays 5 guards at a time. Avila is the only non-guard on their roster who plays any meaningful minutes. (considering Jayson Kent as a guard, though he is listed as G/F on their roster)
So with Aaron Gray now eligible, it could give more options for Schertz

[Fetz86]

Next to fall will be the limit to 4 years of eligibility. Get ready for 30+ year olds that are not quite good enough for the NBA/NFL sticking around making NIL money as long as their bodies hold up.

[egib52]

Many people are starting to get fed up with the NCAA. With these kids switching schools every year, it is going to lead to less people being interested in teams.

[64NIT]

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/39121183/ncaa-states-aim-extend-tro-letting-transfers-play-immediately

[houstonbrave]

Wow this is getting confusing- first NCAA says if you play and the decision is overturned you lose a year, now they join the suit trying to extend the TRO for the rest of the season. Seems inconsistent day to day.

[Da Coach]

Wow this is getting confusing- first NCAA says if you play and the decision is overturned you lose a year, now they join the suit trying to extend the TRO for the rest of the season. Seems inconsistent day to day.

It would have created a dilemma if the temporary restraining order was only good for 2 weeks making those 2-time transfer players eligible for just a few games.
If they played a some games and then IF the temporary ruling gets overturned in the next judicial decision coming on Dec. 27, all those players who played would become ineligible again. Plus they could have blown an entire year of eligibility because of the on again, off again ruling.

[houstonbrave]

DC- I totally agree but the NCAA should have realized that before they made the first announcement that players would burn a year of eligibility and gone straight to a motion to extend TRO for entire year. Just looks terribly disorganized.

[bradleyfan124]

The NCAA needs to be disbanded and a new organization created to work with ALL the colleges and universities to create a plan equitable to everybody.The NCAA is killing college athletics, the very thing they are supposed to be protecting

[Da Coach]

It appears the NCAA will not appeal or dispute this ruling.
They released a statement saying they will allow all transfers to be eligible immediately-

"As a result of today's decision impacting Division I student-athletes, the Association will not enforce the year in residency requirement for multi-time transfers and will begin notifying member schools."

Source: https://twitter.com/ByPatForde/statu...31108222218512

Even though it might have been good to have some deterrence to slow the rapidly increasing transfer phenomenon, for the NCAA to try to stand their ground and fight this legal battle would have done more harm to college athletics.

After the court's temporary restraining order, the NCAA agreed not to limit transfers' eligibility until after this current school year. And with multiple other lawsuits pending, it is unlikely they will resume their prior restrictions on transfers.

Today, multiple outlets are reporting that the NCAA is having high level meetings with some of the power conferences to formulate a plan to institute a "revenue sharing" policy to funnel money to the student-athletes.
>> https://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...ege-athletics/
>> https://www.espn.com/college-sports/...t-case-vs-ncaa

This sounds like a good thing for college sports. However, don't expect much of this shared revenue to go to athletes at mid-majors and schools like Bradley. It will likely go almost entirely to the big boys.