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Appellate court reaffirms 19th JDC decision in athletes' fight for 5th year of NCAA eligibility
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BATON ROUGE — A Louisiana appellate court has sided with several athletes fighting for a fifth year of college sports eligibility, reaffirming a decision made in a Baton Rouge court earlier in September.
The First Court of Appeals' decision, issued Monday, denies the SEC and Commissioner Greg Sankey's request to suspend the preliminary injunction that allowed the athletes to keep their fifth year of eligibility.
"An order or judgment relating to a preliminary injunction shall not be suspended during the pendency of an appeal unless the court in its discretion so orders," the decision says. "Relators have not shown an abuse of that discretion by the district court."
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On Sept. 3, 19th JDC Judge William Jorden ruled in favor of the players, paving the way for the athletes to play in their fifth year of eligibility.
WBRZ spoke to a sports law expert at Southern University's Law Center about the court process in the case.
"Now, they have the right to be able to play. Now, it's up to a team, a college team, to allow them to play," Southern University Law Professor Rahim Smith said.
Despite being granted the ability to roster multiple players who participated in NFL activities, including Dae'Quan Wright, Zxavian Harris and Blake Cotton, none of these players were placed on LSU's roster.
Before LSU's 105-player roster was set for the season, the SEC, which filed a lawsuit against LSU, considered removing the Tigers from the conference over the dispute. LSU has since set its roster without the contested players and tensions between the conference and Louisiana's flagship university have since cooled.
The First Circuit's decision only applies to the preliminary injunction, the civil case itself must still play out in court which could take weeks or months. In the meantime, the SEC could appeal this latest action at the Louisiana Supreme Court.
"They could seek some time of supervisory writ at the Supreme Court level, but at the appellate court level, they said they were not going to be able to do so," Smith said.
Ryan Downtown, an attorney representing Wright and Harris, shared his approval of the First Circuit's decision, writing in a statement:
"We are pleased the First Circuit confirmed the Trial Judge's finding that the NCAA's refusal to grant the Class of 2022 a fifth year of eligibility - just like all athletes before and after them - likely violated the NCAA's own bylaws. We look forward to seeing our clients compete this season."
Smith added that the results of the fifth-year eligibility lawsuit could ultimately shape the future of college athletics.
"There have been professional athletes that have returned to college in basketball. How do we look at other sports as well? Are we treating them all the same? They're going to have to have some type of uniformity," he said.
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