Charleston, W.Va. — College basketball programs with multiple-transfer athletes are pondering whether to let them play after a federal judge gave them a small window to compete as part of a ruling in a lawsuit that the NCAA suggests would open college athletics to free agency.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey in West Virginia issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA on Wednesday. The ruling said athletes who previously were denied the chance to play immediately after transferring a second time can compete in games for 14 days.
As some schools with athletes impacted by the ruling consulted with their internal legal teams to determine the next steps, a document circulated by the NCAA to its member schools clarifies that the redshirt rule for athletes would still apply if the court’s decision is reversed: Basketball players who compete during the two-week window would be using a season of eligibility.
The court ruling comes while the transfer window is open for football and creates an opportunity for players who have already transferred using their so-called one-time exception for immediate eligibility to enter the portal again and be cleared to compete next season.
A hearing on the restraining order is set for Dec. 27. The lawsuit filed by seven states could have a profound impact on college sports if successful. In court documents, the NCAA said the plaintiffs “seek to remake collegiate athletics and replace it with a system of perpetual and unchecked free agency.”
NCAA rules allow underclassmen to transfer once without having to sit out a year. But an additional transfer as an undergraduate generally requires the NCAA to grant a waiver allowing the athlete to compete immediately. Without it, the athlete would have to sit out for a year at the new school.
Last January, the NCAA implemented stricter guidelines for granting those waivers on a case-by-case basis.
According to the NCAA, the percentage of college athletes who have transferred…
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