The NCAA on Wednesday responded to a major court ruling that could significantly impact transfer eligibility.
West Virginia district court judge John P. Bailey on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order that blocks the NCAA from enforcing its rules preventing players that have transferred more than once from receiving immediate eligibility. In essence, for at least the next 14 days, multi-transfer players will be allowed to play without sitting out a season.
Here's an important part of Judge Bailey's order on the states v. NCAA
"Thus, this Court will enjoin NCAA from enforcing the Rule of Restitution against student-athletes and their respective institutions." pic.twitter.com/nJz7cvdQdc
— Ethan Bock (@ethanbock_) December 13, 2023
A preliminary injunction hearing has been set for Dec. 27. Until then, the NCAA confirmed to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports that it will abide by the court’s ruling.
The NCAA says it will not prevent multi-time transferring athletes from playing immediately, per a statement to @YahooSports. pic.twitter.com/sRaqT16esr
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 13, 2023
This does not provide much clarity going forward, and is clearly not yet a permanent change in NCAA policy. The organization will hope that a full hearing results in the rule being upheld, which could make for a difficult decision for teams and players that would be effected by the change over the next 14 days.
Transfer rules and the granting of waivers regarding eligibility have resulted in some bad PR and sharp criticism of the NCAA recently. The issue is not going away, and in fact, the court decision could be the first step in the total elimination of eligibility cool-downs, which would make the transfer portal even more chaotic than it already is.
