The college eligibility landscape just changed — again.
U.S. District Court of Colorado judge Charlotte Sweeney has granted a class-wide preliminary injunction that makes the NCAA declare eligible all high school class of 2022 athletes who ran out of eligibility this spring.
“All persons in the United States who began to play in collegiate sports in the 2022-2023 season, competed in NCAA Division I sports, and completed four years of eligibility as defined by the NCAA’s prior rules by the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season, and are therefore barred from playing a fifth season due to the NCAA’s adoption and immediate implementation of the Five-Year Eligibility Rule,” the class certification reads.
The order calls for a transfer portal for any player newly eligible from August 3 to August 10, just weeks before the NCAA’s fall sports schedule is expected to start.
Notably, men’s and women’s soccer starts in mid to late August, and the FBS college football slate will begin on August 29.
The ruling comes after the NCAA switched to a five-for-five eligibility rule in June that gave student-athletes a continuous five-year window of eligibility in up to five seasons of college sports.
Athletes’ five-year timers now begin upon full-time college enrollment or during the academic year following an athlete’s 19th birthday, whichever happens first.
This effectively took away redshirt years and was meant to defend schools from the constant eligibility litigation that has taken place across the NCAA recently.
With the rule taking effect in June 2026, however, it left the high school class of 2022 out to dry, while all others could reap the benefits of a free fifth year of eligibility.
Prior to Judge Sweeney’s ruling, the class of 2022 had launched individual and group attempts at injunctions against the NCAA to play in the 2026-27 season.
On Friday, notable college basketball stars, including Memphis’ Dug McDaniel, Ole Miss’ AJ Storr, Vanderbilt’s Jalen Washington, and SMU’s BJ Edwards, were granted the injunction.
