Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Friday the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) agreed to terms that would allow college athletes who have transferred more than once to be immediately eligible to play with “no retaliation” as part of an antitrust lawsuit filed by Yost.
BREAKING: The NCAA has agreed to terms that have been jointly submitted to the federal court for approval.
* No retaliation against players who play during the temporary restraining order.
* The TRO is converted to a preliminary injunction, to last till the end of spring sports https://t.co/GBUgjXBygW
— Attorney General Dave Yost (@DaveYostOH) December 15, 2023
The NCAA’s Transfer Eligibility Rule requires Division I athletes who transfer a second time to wait one year to compete.
Yost’s 39-page lawsuit, filed recently in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, challenges the NCAA’s rule, claiming it violates antitrust laws. Seven states have since joined Yost’s lawsuit.
Yost’s office and the NCAA are jointly asking a federal judge to extend an order granted two days prior prohibiting the NCAA from enforcing its Transfer Eligibility Rule until at least the end of this academic year.
Friday’s development comes after a judge granted the states a temporary restraining order on Wednesday forbidding the NCAA from enforcing the rule for 14 days and scheduled a hearing for December 27 to decide whether that prohibition should continue until the case is decided.
If the judge grants the joint motion filed on Friday, a hearing originally scheduled for December 27 would be unnecessary as a trial date could be set for after the spring sports season ends.
Yost said Friday’s agreement between his office and the NCAA is a “huge win for the athletes, for the fans, and for the rule of law.”
“We don’t want the college athletes to get caught in the middle of this court case,” Yost added. “The joint motion filed today signifies our shared commitment to ensuring that sports seasons operate smoothly during the legal proceedings…Let the kids play. Let them compete.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Dave Yost” by Dave Yost.
