East Lansing — Michigan State wide receiver Rodney Bullard Jr. filed an injunction in an Ingham County court Monday, seeking to get back a year of NCAA eligibility that he says the NCAA wrongly denied him. Bullard, who transferred to Michigan State last season from Division II Valdosta State, has only played in three seasons of college football from 2023 to 2025 and redshirted in 2022. But the NCAA says his eligibility clock started in 2021, when he was a part-time student at Valdosta State. Bullard petitioned to get his eligibility back for the 2026 season during spring ball, and the NCAA denied an appeal by Michigan State. So, Bullard is going through the courts.
A preliminary injunction hearing is set for Aug. 27. More: Michigan State player is fighting the NCAA for a fourth season The NCAA recently passed new eligibility rules to give players a five-year eligibility clock with no redshirt. Multiple injunctions have been filed in courts across the country seeking additional eligibility for recent graduates. Except in the case of Bullard, his part-time eligibility should give him a year of eligibility this coming season. When The Detroit News asked the NCAA in April when the eligibility clock starts, a spokesperson said part-time student status matters. “A student-athlete’s five-year period of eligibility begins when the student enrolls full-time at a collegiate institution,” said Jericho Barr-Redmond, the NCAA’s assistant director of external communications. “Within that period, a student-athlete may compete in four seasons of competition. If a student was not on a squad list and did not compete during a season, then he/she more than likely did not use one of their four seasons of competition.” Bullard is represented by William H. Horton of the Troy-based firm Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton. cearegood@detroitnews.com @ConnorEaregood This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: MSU's Rodney Bullard Jr. files injunction against NCAA in eligibility case