Kentucky appeals judge denies NCAA bid to block 30 athletes from playing as hoops season draws near

The NCAA was denied emergency relief by a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge Friday, leaving eligible a host of college athletes as the basketball season is about to begin until a panel of three judges can consider the governing body's request for relief.

The 30 athletes involved, including Missouri basketball player Mark Mitchell and LSU's Skyy Clark, received a temporary injunction Oct. 16 to compete while the NCAA appealed a ruling that allowed members of the 2022 high school graduating class to play a final season in their respective sports under the NCA's new five-for-five model.

Kentucky judge Sara Walter Combs wrote in her decision that the NCAA failed to prove that the injunction created “imminent, ruinous and incalculable injury," and that it serves no purpose “to flip-flop repeatedly as our courts work through the underlying issues.”

Along with allowing the basketball players involved in the case to begin their seasons next week, the ruling allows football players Alex Afari Jr. of Kentucky, Texas Tech quarterback Thomas Castellanos and Louisville football players Jabari Mack and Kalib Perry — all of whom are also involved in the litigation — to continue to compete while the case plays out.

Multiple lawsuits filed in several states have focused on the NCAA's new eligibility model due to be implemented next fall. It allows athletes five years of eligibility beginning when an athlete turns 19 or graduates from high school, whichever is earliest.

But the implementation excluded athletes who began college careers during the 2022-23 season and completed four years. And those athletes, including some who have played for professional teams, are now suing to play their fifth season in college.

The ruling in Kentucky came one day after the Ohio Supreme Court kept in place a ruling from earlier this month allowing two dozen players involved in an eligibility case there to remain available for their teams. The lead plaintiff is Filip Borovicanin of Xavier, which opens its season Monday, while other basketball players involved include Gonzaga’s Javon Bennett and MJ Collins of Cincinnati.

The NCAA legal office sent a memo to its members late Thursday saying it was “deeply disappointed” by the outcome in Ohio.

“Every minute played by an ineligible player is an opportunity deprived to an eligible student-athlete — sometimes in the pinnacle events of a season,” the NCAA's letter said. “And it provides a significant competitive advantage to schools rostering experienced players who exhausted their eligibility.”

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