Eli LedermanApr 16, 2026, 06:27 PM ET
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A district court judge has granted Oklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke a preliminary injunction, handing the former walk-on an additional year of eligibility in 2026.
Following a day-long emergency hearing at the Cleveland County (Okla.) courthouse, which included testimony from Oklahoma coach Brent Venables and general manager Jim Nagy, Judge Thad Balkman ruled Thursday that the NCAA had failed to consider the totality of Heinecke’s case surrounding his freshman season with Ohio State’s lacrosse program in 2021 and granted an injunction that paves the way for Heinecke to return to Oklahoma for a fifth season this fall.
A career special-teamer, Heinecke emerged as a star for the Sooners in 2025, finishing as the second-leading tackler on the nation’s No. 3 run defense and helping carry Oklahoma to its first College Football Playoff appearance since 2019. He’ll now rejoin veteran Kip Lewis and Michigan transfer Cole Sullivan in one of the most experienced linebacker corps across the SEC in 2026.
Thursday’s ruling marks the latest, and likely final, chapter in a months-long eligibility fight.
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The NCAA denied Heinecke’s initial waiver request and a subsequent appeal earlier this year, prompting the 6-foot-1, 227-pound linebacker to begin preparing for the NFL draft this spring. A projected late-round selection, Heinecke participated in the NFL scouting combine in February and Oklahoma’s pro day last month while continuing his battle for additional eligibility.
On March 23, Heinecke and his attorneys filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Cleveland County, seeking an emergency hearing prior to the start of the NFL draft on April 23. In court documents obtained by ESPN, Heinecke’s attorneys cited “the NCAA’s bad-faith, unreasonable, and arbitrary decision to deny Owen the opportunity to compete in the upcoming 2026-2027 college football season” and requested not only a preliminary injunction granting an additional year of eligibility, but also a permanent enjoinment barring the NCAA from “taking any disciplinary, penal, or other action against Owen Heinecke or the University of Oklahoma as retaliation for, or related to, such injunctive relief.”
Heinecke’s case hinged on a challenge to the NCAA’s interpretation of his freshman year at Ohio State during the 2021-22 season, when he appeared in three games with the Buckeyes’ lacrosse team. During Thursday’s hearing, and in the March 23 court documents, Heinecke’s attorneys argued that his eligibility clock began not at Ohio State, but after he joined Oklahoma’s football program as a walk-on before the 2022 football season.
A two-sport standout at Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Heinecke intended to play both lacrosse and football at Ohio State. However, his attorneys asserted, Heinecke was denied the opportunity to join the Buckeyes’ football program due to “numerous factors outside of his control,” including disruptions related to COVID-19, Heinecke’s recovery from high school injury and Ohio State’s decision to hold off on post-COVID-19 walk-on tryouts until the spring of 2022.
Heinecke left Ohio State and landed at Oklahoma in the fall of 2022, Venables’ first season in charge of the program. After a redshirt year, Heinecke appeared in 39 games over the next three seasons, including a breakout 2025 campaign when he logged 74 total tackles as a redshirt senior, starting five games for Oklahoma and earning AP All-SEC second-team honors.
On Thursday, NCAA attorneys maintained that Heinecke’s eligibility clock started at Ohio State in 2021, arguing that he denied his own opportunity to play four years of football by choosing to play lacrosse at Ohio State.
“We’re grateful for today’s decision,” Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny said in a statement after Thursday’s ruling. “This is a fair outcome for a young man who has handled this process with integrity and resilience. We’re proud to stand with Owen and look forward to supporting him as he returns to competition in a Sooners uniform.”
The ruling marks a legal blow for the NCAA amid an ongoing flurry of high-profile lawsuits filed by football players seeking extra eligibility since the close of the 2025 season.
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was cleared to play in 2026 last month after a Mississippi Supreme Court judge denied the NCAA’s appeal of the star passer’s preliminary injunction. Elsewhere, the NCAA has logged legal wins related to eligibility cases in recent months, including court decisions related to former Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar and ex-Virginia passer Chandler Morris, who each had respective injunctions related to eligibility cases denied.
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