Appeals Court Pauses Fifth-Year Eligibility for Class of 2022 Athletes in Win for NCAA
A divided panel of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Friday to stay a lower court injunction that had granted a fifth season of eligibility to college athletes from the high school class of 2022. The stay means players like Arizona running back Ismail Mahdi and Indiana defensive linemen Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt are ineligible to play in the 2026 season for now, just weeks before the college football season begins.
The case traces back to a class-action lawsuit filed by University of Northern Colorado basketball player Brock Wisne, who argued the NCAA's new "five-for-five" eligibility rule, allowing five seasons of competition within a five-year window, unfairly excluded the 2022 cohort because it wasn't applied retroactively. U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney granted a preliminary injunction on July 31 covering the entire class, prompting the NCAA to appeal and warn the ruling would destabilize rosters already set for the fall.
The appellate stay is a temporary win for the NCAA, not a final resolution. Other courts have split on the issue: an Ohio appeals court similarly paused a comparable injunction involving Xavier basketball player Filip Borovicanin, but plaintiffs' attorney Rob Shelquist said judges elsewhere remain largely unified against the NCAA's position, and dozens of related lawsuits are still pending nationwide.
What supporters say:
The NCAA argues schools built rosters in reliance on the existing rules and it isn't fair to let a wave of formerly ineligible players return with only weeks' notice before the season.
Supporters say a uniform, non-retroactive rule prevents years of open-ended eligibility disputes and keeps roster limits meaningful.
A stay preserves the status quo while the underlying antitrust question gets fully litigated, rather than forcing teams to reverse course twice.
What critics say:
Critics say thousands of Class of 2022 athletes lose an eligibility window they can't get back later, even if they eventually win their antitrust claim.
Opponents note other courts, including in Ohio, have found the NCAA's exclusion of this one class arbitrary and likely unlawful.
Plaintiffs' attorneys argue the ruling is purely procedural and doesn't address the merits of the discrimination claim against the NCAA.
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Was the Tenth Circuit right to pause the Class of 2022 athletes' fifth year of eligibility? Yes 
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