Caught in the Donut Hole
The Class of 2022, the NCAA's new five-for-five rule, and the nationwide fight for a fifth year
The NCAA's June 23, 2026 rule change granted five seasons in five years to nearly everyone except the athletes who graduated high school in 2022 and played four straight seasons without a redshirt. They competed for four years against opponents holding COVID-era bonus seasons, and they alone received nothing when the new model passed. They are winning in court right now, and fastest in state court. This advisory maps every active case, the rulings behind them, and the realistic odds, because the July 31 waiver deadline is a school-controlled administrative exit, and it does not limit litigation in any way.
“The waiver window closes July 31. The courthouse stays open.”
Brandon Leopoldus, Esq.
Get the Playbook
What's Inside
31 Pages. 10 Sections. Plain Language.
- 01What the NCAA approved: the five-for-five rule, and the class it left out
- 02The July 31 waiver deadline: a school-controlled exit
- 03The active cases, court by court: Ohio, Tennessee, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, Illinois, and California
- 04The JUCO-counting line: Fuller, Morton, and Miller
- 05How we got here: Pavia, the JUCO wave, and the appellate correction
- 06The contract detour: why state-court claims are producing injunctions
- 07The backdrop: Ohio v. NCAA and the House settlement
- 08Likelihood of success for a class of 2022 athlete: the honest assessment
- 09Six factors that separate winners from losers
- 10What to do now: we are tracking every docket daily
This playbook is educational. It is general information, not legal, tax, or investment advice for your specific situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Leopoldus Law, APC.