College basketball is supposed to be played on a court, but lately the bigger action seems to be IN court.
The latest proof of that is in a class-action lawsuit seeking to stop the NCAA from enforcing the eligibility restrictions it set last month. Isaiah Jones, who was a useful role player last season for USF, is one of 11 Division I athletes across multiple sports in the suit that was filed in Colorado.
The 2025-26 season at USF was Jones' fourth full season in college basketball, and the NCAA has ruled that everyone in his situation had to play by the old four-year rule.
Theoretically, his eligibility is used up.
The lawsuit notes, "This past season, Isaiah earned significant NIL compensation. If he had another year of eligibility, he would be able to make substantially more. Isaiah received his bachelor’s degree in Communications and if he had another year of eligibility, he would pursue a Masters in
Business with a marketing concentration."
By the way, he wouldn't be earning that Masters at USF if he was granted extra eligibility. The Bulls' roster under new head coach Chris Mack is already at max capacity.
"These athletes aren't asking for special treatment," Rob Shelquist, a partner at Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, LLP said 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 opportunities."
Let me put it a little more colloquilly: The NCAA could mess up a one-car parade.
The new rule allowing athletes to play for five seasons -- but only five -- is fine. It eliminates the need for redshirts, although except in extreme cases it doesn't extend the clock for seasons lost to injury.
So be it.
But it does seem lame that athletes under the old four-year rule were excluded for extra time.
Maybe there's a thread of legality involved in that decision, but the Supreme Court has already basically ruled that the NCAA can set the rules for college athletics. By taking this restriction, the NCAA opened itself to legal challenges and, seriously, you would think it has had enough of those.
We got here several years ago because former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon sued the NCAA for using his name without, you know, paying him. That led to a landmark antitrust class-action lawsuit that drained the NCAA's coffers and set up the system we have today where the athletes hold the power.
College athletics needs a central governing body, but it also needs a brain.
This latest action shows the NCAA needs some work on the latter.
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