Attorney General Kwame Raoul is teaming up with the NCAA in a bid to extend a legal lifeline to collegiate athletes caught up in the transfer eligibility dispute. In Chicago, Raoul declared he's pushing for a federal judge to prolong the temporary restraining order that's currently throwing a wrench into the NCAA's plans. This maneuver aims to let student-athletes stay in the game while the courts hammer out the legality of the NCAA's transfer rules.
Raoul said, "Collegiate athletes deserve to know that they can play while our lawsuit challenging the transfer eligibility rule continues," according to a statement published by his office. He's calling for a time-out on the NCAA's enforcement until at least the final bell of the academic year. Raoul and a bipartisan coalition of six attorney generals have filed this legal scrimmage that kicked off on December 7th.
Earlier this week, Judge John Preston Bailey threw the NCAA's game plan off balance with a 14-day restraining order against their rule enforcement, preparing for a December 27 hearing. If the judge grants the joint motion, a trial date could be set for after the spring sports season ends.
The rule at the center of this clash requires Division I school hoppers to ride the bench for a year before getting back in the game unless the NCAA decides to play favorites and waives it. They loosened their grip on this in 2021 for first-timers but not for those making a second jump. It's a waiting game that, as Raoul and his legal cohorts argue, smacks more of gatekeeping than of nurturing student-athletes' academic lives or keeping college sports pure.
