Louisville, Kentucky: NCAA Appeals Eligibility Ruling and Asks Court to Pause Injunction

The NCAA filed an appeal on Tuesday, October 27, in the Kentucky Court of Appeals and asked the court to pause the temporary injunction that restored a fifth season of eligibility for more than 30 college athletes from the high school Class of 2022. The filing puts the playing status of two Louisville basketball players, two Louisville football players and one Kentucky football player back in doubt, days before Louisville opens its basketball season.

Who is affected

The athletes covered by the injunction include Louisville basketball players Seth Trimble and L.J. Wells, Louisville football players Jabari Mack and Kalib Perry, and Kentucky football player Alex Afari Jr. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Brian Edwards granted the temporary injunction on October 16, barring the NCAA from prohibiting the named athletes from competing during the 2026-27 season. If the appeals court grants the NCAA request for a stay, the athletes would be ineligible until or unless the court sides with them.

Why the judge ruled for the athletes

Edwards granted the injunction after an evidentiary hearing on October 14. In an 18-page opinion, he concluded the athletes had shown by clear and convincing evidence a substantial likelihood of succeeding on their claim that the NCAA breached its contractual obligations by excluding members of the Class of 2022 from an expanded eligibility rule adopted earlier this year. He found the NCAA had acted arbitrarily in allowing some athletes to compete for five, six or even seven seasons while denying the same opportunity to others. "The Court can reach no other conclusion other than that this is arbitrary," Edwards wrote.

The October 16 order also protects the schools. It prohibits the NCAA from disqualifying the athletes because they did not enter the transfer portal, and it bars the NCAA from enforcing its Rule of Restitution and its so-called ghost transfer rule against the athletes, their schools and coaches, or the institutions competing against them.

A case that has already reversed twice

Edwards first ruled for the athletes on August 21, granting a temporary restraining order. Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Jones upheld that decision on September 4. A three-judge appellate panel, Judges Sara Walter Combs, Christopher McNeill and Will Moynahan, dissolved the order on October 2, finding a procedural error because the restraining order should have been a temporary injunction, which requires an evidentiary hearing. The case returned to Jefferson County, where the October 14 hearing and the October 16 injunction followed.

What happens next

The athletes have until November 6 to respond to the regular appeal. Attorney Hans Poppe, a member of the athletes legal team, told the Courier Journal they have not been given a deadline to respond to the emergency motion to stay the injunction. Louisville basketball opens its season on November 2 against Chattanooga, and Trimble, a North Carolina transfer, played in the preseason while the injunction question moved through the courts. For now, the injunction remains in place, and the named athletes remain eligible unless the appeals court orders otherwise.