Judge rules four West Virginia football players still eligible after JuCo years

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00:00A ruling by a federal judge has given a boost to West Virginia football and many junior college

00:05athletes who are hoping to retain NCAA eligibility. It's one in a long list of eligibility challenges

00:12by players hoping to compete in college athletics for more than five years.

00:19Four Mountaineer players can now suit up for the 2025 season. All of them attended junior

00:25colleges that weren't members of any NCAA divisions. They filed a lawsuit saying those

00:31years shouldn't have counted against the NCAA's five-year limit. Head coach Rich Rodriguez will

00:38welcome the transfers in the nick of time, especially running back Ty Edwards who played

00:43at Northern Iowa. The Mountaineers had just two healthy running backs on the roster. The season

00:48kicks off in nine days. We got to make sure that you know they're not doing too much too soon. They

00:54got to work their way into shape. Our guys that have been practicing with us are going to be better

00:57shaped than somebody new. But you know we got plenty of time to meet with them. You know we've

01:03got to try to keep it simple. Judge John Bailey aligned his ruling with those made in cases involving

01:08players like Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Rutgers safety Jet Elad. But other courts have

01:14denied similar eligibility cases and there are more than two dozen cases still pending in college

01:20football alone. The NCAA responded to the ruling in the West Virginia case with a statement saying

01:26this ruling will lead to high school students losing opportunities to compete in college athletics

01:33and it erodes the academic standards that have for decades ensured student athletes have obtained an

01:40education. The statement also called on Congress once again to help provide stability for college

01:46athletics by passing legislation that would essentially overrule what the NCAA calls the

01:52patchwork of state laws and differing court opinions. The judge agreed with the players argument that in

01:58the NIL era eligibility rules are commercial in nature and can potentially restrict players ability

02:04to earn money if they can't play for a number of seasons. The judge said that restriction violates

02:10antitrust laws. The various cases around the country are setting up the potential for what's called a

02:15circuit split where two federal appeals courts disagree on the same subject. Those splits often mean the

02:22Supreme Court will agree to settle the issue. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis.