With New Lawsuit, 5th Year Eligibility Battle Reaches NCAA D-II, D-III
If the case is successful, thousands more NCAA athletes could receive eligibility.
A new legal battle over Division II and Division III eligibility could grant thousands of student-athletes a fifth year of participation, according to a proposed class action lawsuit filed this week. The case, filed by Division III men's basketball player Benjamin Pearce, argues that the NCAA's restrictions on the 2022 freshman class should be halted.
Pearce, who completed four years of eligibility at Emory University, received interest from Division I schools and now seeks an injunction that would prevent the NCAA from enforcing roster limits and revenue-sharing caps from a previous settlement. If successful, the ruling could impact all lower-division athletes across the country.
The lawsuit highlights the NCAA's new "age-based" eligibility policy for Division I, which allows players to complete five seasons of competition beginning on their 19th birthday or when they start college, whichever comes first. However, the NCAA excluded the freshman class of 2022 from this rule.
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