The NCAA has been facing multiple battles on multiple legal fronts as plaintiffs use the antitrust laws to undermine the traditional regulatory scheme. As we have previously discussed, plaintiffs have already attacked transfer restrictions and the NCAA’s prohibitions on student athletes’ ability to receive direct compensation and payments. The latest battle is over the duration of student athlete eligibility. Whereas plaintiffs are now targeting NCAA D-1 Bylaw 12.8.1, which limits eligibility to five years with some minor exceptions. A new antitrust challenge could significantly extend that window—provided that the student athlete remains a full-time student at their given university.
The NCAA’s eligibility rules have been targeted in the past few months following a federal judge in Tennessee restraining the NCAA from preventing Vanderbilt quarterback, and former JUCO transfer, Diego Pavia from playing in 2025-26. Now, the NCAA is in a legal battle with John Wade III over Wade’s eligibility status after he has exhausted his five-year eligibility period. Last month, Wade filed a complaint against the NCAA asserting that eligibility restrictions imposed by colleges, which are competing businesses that join hands through NCAA rulemaking, violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act. On January 9, 2025, Wade filed his memorandum in support of his request to immediately enjoin the NCAA from prohibiting him from resuming his basketball career at the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2024-2025 season. U.S. District Judge Taylor B. McNeel held an argument on the motion on Friday, January 10, 2025.
In the complaint and injunction request, Wade argues that restricting college athletes’ opportunities through eligibility rules denies them the chance to improve “their economic opportunity, personal growth, and well-being with NIL opportunities.” The major challenge here is whether the longstanding rule—NCAA D-1 Bylaw 12.8.1—is in violation of federal antitrust laws. The determination of this challenge could conceivably lead to college athletes having longer careers—and, in some instances, even longer than some professional careers.