Judge orders preliminary injunction to give 2022 class 5th year of eligibility
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A United States District Court of Colorado judge issued a preliminary injunction Friday that will grant most athletes in the high school class of 2022 an extra year of college eligibility in 2027, Sam C. Ehrlich, a professor at Boise State University, first reported Friday.
The injunction applies to all athletes across any sport that began participating in Division I athletics during the 2022-23 season and finished their fourth year of eligibility before the end of the 2025-26 campaign. The NCAA now has the chance to appeal the preliminary injunction.
This comes after the NCAA adopted an age-based eligibility model in June, which permits college athletes five years of eligibility and goes into effect this coming year. Athletes in the 2022 class, however, were originally exempt from that rule.
In response to the decision, nine class of 2022 D-I athletes, including Syracuse men’s lacrosse players Joey Spallina, Billy Dwan III, Finn Thomson, Michael Leo and Luke Rhoa, joined a lawsuit earlier this week that, if successful, would let them return to school for a fifth year. Spallina and Dwan were later removed from the lawsuit while others were added.
Pending the NCAA’s appeal, athletes like Thomson, Leo and Rhoa could now return to their respective schools in 2027. Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said in the initial lawsuit that SU would have open roster spots available if successful.
The three were major focal points of the Orange’s offense in 2026, and Friday’s ruling could give them one more shot at an elusive national championship.
