The NCAA doesn’t like to make it easy.
The “5 for 5” came into effect in June and begins with the high school class of 2023 (student-athletes entering their fourth year of college). One month later, judges began ruling that players from the high school class of 2022 (those who completed four years of college) are able to play next year and can fall into the “5 for 5” category.
Two-thirds of Mid-Major Madness fans agree with these judges that these athletes should be allowed to play in 2026-27.
Why is that? It is simply that the players should be “grandfathered” in?
Well, it goes a little deeper than that sentiment.
Addie Meiners from WLKY in Louisville broke it down perfectly.
The high school class of 2022 falls into a gap between the extra year of eligibility due to COVID the high school class of 2021 received and the “5 for 5” ruling for the class of 2023.
“[The high school class of 2022] is saying ‘hey, what the heck? What about us? Why don’t we get an extra year?’” Meiners said. “All they get is their four years that you had previously. So, that’s when the courts started to step in.”
Courts in Colorado and Tennessee were the first to rule in favor of the athletes seeking to be eligible this year, but lawsuits in other states have popped up and have gone in favor of the players too.
“The balance of equities, as well as the public interest, favor them,” Judge Charlotte Sweeney, of Colorado, wrote in the decision. “They are entitled to the injunctive relief they seek.”
What we have on our hands is a messy situation because the school year is beginning across the country. We’re long past the days of the transfer portal opening. Rosters for the upcoming season were seemingly set, especially after summer workouts. But here we are with more uncertainty.
“Everyone knew that there were going to be lawsuits if [the NCAA didn’t include the college class of 2026 in the ‘5 for 5’ ruling],” college athletics attorney Mit Winter said on 247Sports’ The Assist with Kyle Tucker. “I don’t know if the NCAA didn’t really think the lawsuits would happen or it was confident it would win those lawsuits or just knew there’d be lawsuits and was like ‘we’re just going to deal with this for this one year and then after that it’ll be fine.’
“I think if they really wanted to make things as orderly as possible, they could have just grandfathered that group of athletes in and said ‘alright you could play for another season.’ That would have given schools time to get their rosters more set before the school year starts, and we wouldn’t be having all the legal wrangling and coaches complaining about the situation that we have.”
The positive for players being able to play a fifth year coming up is the potential upward mobility. Take Cameron Fens, for example. The 7-footer began his college career with two seasons at UIC and primarily came off the bench. He transferred to South Dakota, where he was the most dominant big man in the Summit League last season as a senior. Now, he has signed with North Carolina to play a fifth year.
Who knows where one season in Chapel Hill could lead for Fens.
The potential is there for several of our mid-major stars from this past season to be back on the college hardwood in fewer than three months. The 2026-27 season tips off Nov. 2.
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