By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
It took less than 24 hours for the NCAA to face litigation over its new eligibility rules.
After the Division I Cabinet unanimously approved the new age-based eligibility model on Tuesday, a group of basketball players filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the application of it.
The new model, which will take effect at the start of the 2026-2027 school year, gives athletes five years of eligibility starting from the time of their 19th birthday or their full-time college enrollment, whichever comes first. It also eliminates redshirt years and waiver exemptions outside of a few specific reasons, such as pregnancy, religious missions or military service.
However, it does not grant a fifth season to student-athletes who just exhausted their four-year eligibility term, those being from the high school class of 2022.
Prior to the new model being approved, the NCAA made it clear that those who had no more eligibility under the current rules at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season would not gain another year if and when the new model was passed.
However, a group of 15 college basketball players, all of whom were members of the high school class of 2022 and completed their fourth year of eligibility this past season, filed a lawsuit in Hamilton County, Ohio, arguing the new rules should apply to them as well.
The lawsuit is requesting a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction requiring the NCAA to allow the players eligibility this fall, according to Front Office Sports.
The lawsuit reportedly includes 14 male basketball players and one female basketball player.
Attorneys Ryan Downton and Darren Heitner tell me that they have filed an injunction in Ohio for members of the HS Class of 2022 who have just completed their fourth year of competition.
Below are the players listed on the injunction in Ohio:
Filip Borovicanin Malik…
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 24, 2026
Front Office Sports also reported that the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, Ryan Downton and Darren Heitner, are expected to file more in the coming days over this rule change. Downton previously represented Diego Pavia in his landmark eligibility case in 2024.
The lawsuit does not challenge the concept of the new eligibility model, but rather the implementation of it. The players claim the way the NCAA is applying the rules, excluding them from gaining a fifth year, constitutes a violation of the contract between the NCAA and its member schools—of which players are “third-party” beneficiaries, according to Front Office Sports.
“The NCAA’s application of this bylaw to Plaintiffs unfairly limits the number of games they can participate in during their ‘five-year eligibility window’ and unjustifiably restrains their ability to earn money through use of their name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) connected to their work as Division I athletes,” the complaint reads, according to Front Office Sports.
The lawsuit also notes how the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to those impacted by the COVID pandemic in 2020, arguing that the same principle should apply to members of the high school class of 2022.
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