Colorado judge clarifies class-wide injunction on NCAA's age-based eligibility model

Key Points:

• U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney clarified her injunction allowing high school class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their fourth season of eligibility to compete for a fifth season in 2026-27, specifying it does not affect NCAA transfer rules, roster caps, or revenue-share caps.
• The injunction only applies to eligibility for a fifth season and does not block the NCAA's transfer rules, including penalties for transfers outside the designated window, nor does it affect the age-based eligibility rule that excludes athletes aged 20 or older at the start of their five years.
• The NCAA responded by affirming that the ruling does not override the House settlement agreement provisions and announced plans to appeal the injunction quickly, emphasizing that schools and coaches must make independent decisions in the meantime.
• The age-based eligibility model, starting this summer, begins an athlete's eligibility clock at initial full-time college enrollment or the academic year after their 19th birthday, with recruits from 2027 onward subject only to this model.
• Recent legal actions, including a preliminary injunction granted in Ohio for basketball players challenging the NCAA's age-based eligibility model, have prompted further lawsuits against the NCAA regarding athlete eligibility rules.