Eligibility chaos forces Texas Tech reserve QB to catch a late flight to Colo after court ruling

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Texas Tech reserve quarterback Lloyd Jones III had to make an unexpected trip to Colorado after the school received late notice of a court ruling in an eligibility lawsuit.

The decision rendered backup Thomas Castellanos ineligible for Saturday’s game against the Buffaloes, forcing Jones to board a late flight to join the team. Castellanos, who had played in three games this season, was ineligible due to a lawsuit filed in Kentucky that was overturned by an appeals court.

Jones arrived Friday night, a few hours after the rest of the 12th-ranked Red Raiders, and was designated as the new third-string quarterback behind Kirk Francis. This abrupt change and scramble to the airport marked another instance of turmoil arising from a series of lawsuits by players challenging a new NCAA eligibility rule.

The rule, which grants most athletes five years to play five seasons, does not apply to those who graduated high school in 2022 and exhausted their fourth year of eligibility in the 2025-26 school year. Castellanos, a former Florida State star who completed 2,760 yards last season, was part of a lawsuit filed in Kentucky, where the appeals court reversed a lower court’s temporary injunction in Castellanos’ favor.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for October 9. Texas Tech regent chair Cody Campbell expressed frustration with the situation, emphasizing the need for a bill recently passed in the Senate to prevent similar lawsuits against the NCAA in the future. Castellanos was among 38 players across the nation involved in his lawsuit, including basketball players Seth Trimble and Mark Mitchell.

The NCAA received favorable rulings from appeals courts in Ohio and Kentucky, reversing preliminary injunctions that had halted the players’ participation. The NCAA acknowledged the importance of consistent application of eligibility rules and the harm caused by conflicting judicial decisions in a memo to its members.

The next major NCAA hearing is set for October 13 in a federal case in Denver involving basketball player Brock Wisne against the NCAA. That case, which issued a preliminary injunction covering athletes nationwide, was overturned on appeal, leaving multiple state court decisions to determine the outcome.