Ohio Gov. DeWine signs order letting colleges allow fifth-year athletes, challenging NCAA rule

Right · 1Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed an executive order on Tuesday (13 October) allowing Ohio colleges and universities to decide whether athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 may compete for a fifth season. 1 Right · 2The order challenges a new NCAA eligibility rule that excludes those athletes. Just the News describes the rules as having applied to students who entered college in 2023 but not 2022, even though the 2022 group would still have eligibility as fifth-year students. 1 2 Right · 2DeWine said in a statement: "When the rules change, fairness has to remain part of the equation. We want Ohio's student-athletes to have the same opportunity as student-athletes in other states." 1 2

Right · 1NCAA President Charlie Baker pushed back in a memo to member schools, saying DeWine "cannot legislate NCAA eligibility rules" and that "one elected official seeking to make their own rules for their own schools’ advantage is a terrible way to run athletic competitions." 1 Right · 1Baker also said NCAA members voted unanimously for the age-based eligibility change as implemented, that the Ohio Court of Appeals recently agreed, and that multiple appellate courts have recognised the importance of applying eligibility rules consistently. He urged Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act. 1 Right · 2An attorney for a group of Ohio athletes who sued the NCAA (named Ryan Downtown by Fox News's OutKick and Ryan Downton by Just the News) thanked DeWine for ensuring athletes are "treated equitably with their peers" and said that if the NCAA does not relent, "we hope other governors will follow suit." Shams Hirji of Ashbrook Byrne Kresge, another firm for the athletes, also welcomed the order. 1 2

Right · 2OutKick cited sources saying other governors could issue similar orders as soon as next week; Just the News said that so far no other governors had done so. 2 1 Right · 1Courts have split on the issue. In Ohio, Hamilton County Common Pleas judges found the rules excluding the 2022 entering class "arbitrary and capricious" and enjoined them, in a case involving Xavier's Filip Borovicanin and Cincinnati's MJ Collins. The First District Court of Appeals stayed that order and then, earlier this month, reversed the injunction, saying the trial court "abused its discretion." 2 Right · 1Nationally, a lower court in Wisne v. NCAA granted a fifth year to all 2022 graduates, but an appeals court blocked that ruling. A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit heard the full appeal in Denver on the day of the order and did not immediately rule. The NCAA has also won cases in Kentucky, Ohio and Arizona, while a Louisiana case led LSU to consider signing two football players. 1

Right · 2Just the News says the order would undo the court orders in Ohio and let affected athletes return, and that it tests whether a governor can override both the NCAA and the state's appellate court. OutKick says more litigation could follow, and that no Ohio Division I program had responded immediately. 2 1 Right · 1Just the News reports the U.S. Senate has passed the Protect College Sports Act, sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, which would apply the new NCAA eligibility rules nationwide; the House has not passed it. 2