Group of 11 athletes challenge new NCAA eligibility rules in suit - ESPN

The NCAA is facing a federal class action lawsuit against its new eligibility rules.

Eleven Division I athletes, including Division I basketball standouts Cade Tyson and Brock Wisne, have filed a federal class action lawsuit in Colorado that alleges the NCAA's new eligibility rules have adversely affected their ability to extend their college careers and the NIL benefits attached to that opportunity.

The NCAA recently announced an eligibility rule change that grants all athletes five years to compete, but it did not grant athletes who exhausted their eligibility in the 2025-26 campaign an additional season.

If successful, the federal lawsuit could essentially nullify the NCAA's new eligibility rules for a massive pool of athletes across all sports who would then be allowed to enter the transfer portal and extend their careers.

With football season set to begin in a month, a ruling in favor of these athletes could alter the college landscape for the upcoming season. If it's defeated, it could also signal a significant ruling in favor of the NCAA, which has faced numerous state lawsuits already regarding its new eligibility rules.

«These athletes aren't asking for special treatment,» said Rob Shelquist, a partner at Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, LLP, in a statement. «They're asking to not be singled out and excluded from the NCAA's eligibility framework. The NCAA updated the rules but refused to apply them only to the very group that was most immediately affected. If the NCAA has determined that five years of eligibility is the fair rule for college athletes, then athletes who would still be eligible but for completing four years of eligibility should not be deprived of the same educational, athletic, and NIL