January 1, NCAA Files Federal Lawsuit Against Ohio Governor Over Athlete Eligibility Order

Wyatt’s Take

• NCAA bureaucrats are using federal courts to bully a state governor standing up for student athletes.
• Gov. DeWine’s order gives Ohio universities the freedom to decide who can play instead of taking orders from an out-of-touch national organization.
• Hard-working Ohio families deserve leaders who put local control and fairness above elite rulemakers in Indianapolis.

The NCAA sued Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Friday over his executive order that lets state universities decide whether athletes from the high school class of 2022 can play a fifth season.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Ohio just days after DeWine signed the order.

“This whole thing has become comical,” University of Tennessee athletic director Danny White said on social media.

The NCAA claims the governor is trying to give Ohio schools an unfair edge by letting those athletes compete.

“College sports, like all sports, depend on participants following the rules. (DeWine) is attempting to give Ohio institutions a hall pass to break the rules,” the lawsuit says.

The dispute comes as courts across the country are already sorting out similar fights over the same eligibility rule the NCAA passed in June.

Ohio’s top court has agreed to hear the case and has put on hold a lower court decision that would have kept the athletes off the field.

Among the players affected are football players and a few basketball players whose seasons hang in the balance.

Gonzaga transfer Javon Bennett, Cincinnati’s MJ Collins, and Ohio State-linked player Filip Borovićanin are among those waiting on rulings.

The NCAA has long pushed Congress for a federal law that would shield its rules from state challenges, but that effort has stalled in an election year.

Wyatt Matters

Middle America values local control and common sense over distant bureaucrats telling families and schools what they can and cannot do.