NC State defensive lineman KaTron Evans has filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA, seeking immediate eligibility for the 2026 season after the organization denied his request for a sixth year of competition. The 24-year-old was pulled from NC State's official roster on July 28, just one day before fall camp practices opened, following a waiver denial that came nearly seven months after the school first submitted it.
According to WRAL, the lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina and claims the NCAA violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, arguing the denial amounts to an unreasonable restraint of trade and a breach of contractual obligations. NC State had submitted Evans' waiver request back in January, and the NCAA did not deliver its denial until July 24, according to On3. Evans had continued practicing with the Wolfpack throughout spring and summer while awaiting a ruling that never came in time.
A Career Interrupted by Tragedy
Evans began his college career at Jackson State in 2021, appearing in seven games that season after arriving as a consensus four-star recruit out of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, where he held 39 scholarship offers and was ranked as high as the No. 10 defensive tackle in the country by Rivals, per Jackson State Athletics. He redshirted in 2022, a year in which, per the lawsuit, he experienced the murder of his cousin and a close friend. He then transferred to Charlotte for the 2023 season but did not appear in a single game that year, missing the season for academic reasons tied to what the lawsuit describes as additional family tragedies — including two deaths in his family and his mother's eviction from her home, all within a three-month span.
Evans' waiver application sought to recoup that lost 2023 season at Charlotte. Both NC State's and Marshall's compliance offices reportedly evaluated the waiver as a strong candidate for approval, the same On3 report notes. Evans went on to play at Charlotte in 2024 before transferring to Marshall for the 2025 season, appearing in 11 games under then-defensive coordinator Tony Gibson — who had previously served as NC State's defensive coordinator before taking the same title at Marshall.
An 'Open-and-Shut' Case That Wasn't
Gibson reportedly contacted NC State's coaching staff to recommend Evans after Marshall's compliance office advised that his waiver request should be an open-and-shut case, according to the same On3 account. Evans transferred to NC State in January as one of 15 transfer portal additions, and at 6-foot-3 and 336 pounds, he was slated to be the Wolfpack's starting nose guard this season — the program's most experienced interior addition as it worked to rebuild a defensive line that lost several key contributors, per Pack Pride.
Across five college seasons at Jackson State, Charlotte and Marshall, Evans has recorded 34 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery returned 22 yards for a touchdown, per WRAL. Per the lawsuit, Evans has used three seasons of competition. NC State head coach Dave Doeren has voiced support for Evans' efforts to regain eligibility, calling the NCAA's waiver denial disappointing, according to WRAL's report.
What Evans Stands to Lose
Without the waiver, Evans stands to lose his full athletic scholarship, name, image and likeness compensation, revenue-sharing compensation, and the on-field development the lawsuit says is critical to pursuing an NFL career — along with the chance to complete his football career at NC State at all, per WRAL's reporting.
Part of a Larger Legal Storm
Evans' case lands amid a chaotic stretch for NCAA eligibility rules. On June 23, the NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved a new age-based five-for-five eligibility model, allowing athletes up to five years of competition starting at enrollment or age 19 while eliminating traditional redshirts and eligibility-extension waivers, according to the NCAA. That policy set a July 31 deadline for waivers submitted under the old rules — a deadline Evans' case blew past just days after his denial.
The shift has triggered a wave of litigation nationwide. On August 1, a federal judge in Colorado granted a class-wide preliminary injunction ordering the NCAA to let athletes who graduated high school in 2022 compete for a fifth season under the new framework, as reported by NBC Sports; the NCAA has said it plans to appeal that ruling to the Tenth Circuit. That case echoes a May 2024 federal consent decree in which the U.S. Department of Justice and 10 state attorneys general permanently enjoined the NCAA from enforcing certain restrictive transfer eligibility rules, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Per WRAL, many of the eligibility lawsuits now working through courts involve players who began their careers in 2022 and exhausted their eligibility in 2025.
North Carolina has become something of a hotspot for these fights. Hoodline previously reported on NC State hoopers suing over the same eligibility overhaul, and days ago detailed a Western Kentucky lineman's emergency motion after losing eligibility following his mother's death. The NCAA now faces a broad array of eligibility lawsuits in both federal and state courts, a pattern The National Law Review says reflects courts increasingly siding with athletes against the association's participation barriers.
