A West Virginia judge has paved the way for college athletes to have more freedom in transferring schools.
Judge John P. Bailey granted a 14-day temporary restraining order during a hearing in West Virginia district court on Wednesday, giving college athletes who have transferred more than once immediate eligibility at least for the next two weeks and potentially charting a course for more lawsuits from transfers seeking eligibility.
A preliminary injunction hearing is set for Dec. 27, when the judge is expected to make a more permanent ruling in the case.
The ruling at least temporarily strikes down the NCAA’s policy around athletes transferring for a second time or more. Under current rules, athletes are allowed to transfer once and play immediately at their new school. However, those transferring again need a waiver from the NCAA to play immediately or must sit out a year in what’s called a “year-in-residence.”
The judge’s ruling stops the NCAA from enforcing the year-in-residence for at least the next two weeks.
The ruling comes from a pair of lawsuits against the NCAA over transfer rules — one from West Virginia basketball player RaeQuan Battle seeking eligibility and the other from seven different state attorney generals who want to see the organization's transfer policy eliminated. The two cases were consolidated and a hearing was held Wednesday morning in front of Bailey in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
Battle, who testified during the hearing, had his waiver to play at West Virginia denied earlier this year. He is a second-time transfer after beginning his career at Washington and then moving to Montana State.
Two other transferring athletes who had their waivers denied testified in the hearing: Miami (Ohio) quarterback Maddox Kopp and Cincinnati basketball player Jamille Reynolds. All three witnesses explained why they should be granted a waiver. Kopp and Battle left their second schools after the head coach departed for another job. Reynolds left for his own safety, he told the court.
Reynolds and Battle both told the court that the NCAA was preventing them from earning pay from their NIL contracts at each school.
“It’s harder to make more money,” Reynolds said of not playing this season.
Battle compared his “NIL contract” at WVU to an employment contract and says the NCAA is preventing him from accessing his full payment. “I’m not going to get what I signed for,” he said.
The court ruling is technically only effective in the area covered by the court (northern district of West Virginia), according to sports law attorney Mit Winter. However, the ruling could set precedent for other states and athletes to follow with similar lawsuits. It’s unclear if the NCAA will enforce its transfer policy outside of the court’s jurisdiction.
In granting the temporary restraining order, the court found that there is a likelihood of success on the merits of the claims. This means the judge believes the state attorney generals will likely prevail on their claim that the NCAA’s transfer waiver rules violate federal antitrust law, according to Winter.
