Michigan basketball's latest roster addition impacted by court ruling

A recent win for the NCAA in court over its much-disputed five-year eligibility rule could lead to a loss for Michigan basketball on its roster.

Two days after the Wolverines added Kenny Noland, a transfer guard from Columbia, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 21 halted a judge’s order that granted athletes from the high school class of 2022 like Noland a fifth year of eligibility.

It’s the latest twist in what’s been a chaotic couple of months since the NCAA adjusted its rules in June to allow existing and future college athletes to play five seasons within a five-year eligibility window but didn’t apply them retroactively.

“The 10th Circuit’s decision to stay the preliminary injunction issued by a Colorado federal district court judge in Wisne permits Division I to return to the status quo before the district court intervened,” the NCAA said in a statement. “Effective immediately, the age-based eligibility rules will be implemented as the Division I membership intended.

“Class members who were allowed to compete because of the Wisne injunction are no longer eligible to compete.”

The decision essentially pauses the federal court ruling in Colorado that came down in late July that allowed all 2022 high school graduates who exhausted their eligibility this year to return for a fifth season. That blanket waiver extended to every college athlete in the class and included Noland, who played for Columbia the past four years and whose signing would fill Michigan’s need for a backup point guard.

While the stay order is temporary as the NCAA appeals, Noland and other college athletes from the high school class of 2022 — as it stands — are ineligible this season unless they are covered by a separate state-court ruling. Those who have successfully petitioned for restraining orders in state courts to play a fifth season are still eligible and won’t be impacted.

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Noland, along with more than 50 other college basketball players, was part of a five-for-five eligibility lawsuit filed in North Carolina that was seeking a temporary and permanent injunction that would allow him to play this season. However, it was dismissed without prejudice and dropped before its scheduled hearing earlier this month.

While college athletes have been granted eligibility in a number of the state-court lawsuits, including in California, Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee, the NCAA had a legal win in Ohio when a similar injunction was stayed on appeal.

“The Association will separately continue to defend other similar putative class action lawsuits and the state court cases that have been filed by former student-athletes seeking additional eligibility,” the NCAA said in a statement. “We are encouraged by the Ohio Court of Appeals’ decision to stay the first of those injunctions pending our appeal.”

As the ongoing legal war to determine who should be allowed to play college sports this upcoming season rages on, Noland’s future with Michigan is in question. So is the possibility of guard Roddy Gayle Jr. returning for a third season.

Michigan coach Mike Boynton Jr. said earlier this month he’d be open to a reunion with Gayle “if there’s an opportunity for Roddy to be back.” Gayle, who traveled with the team to Europe for its 10-day foreign tour that began Aug. 20, played in the NBA Summer League with the Detroit Pistons before the July court ruling granted his class an extra year of eligibility.

Based on how things have panned out over the last decade, Boynton said it seems only fair Gayle, Noland and the rest of the 2022 high school class should be grandfathered into the NCAA’s new five-for-five eligibility rule.

“I’m aware that they would be the only class since 2016 that didn’t have an opportunity to play five years,” Boynton said Aug. 18. “The 2016 high school class finished their careers in 2020 when COVID started. Then the next year didn’t count against anybody, so all those guys had a fifth year, and then we’ve started now this year with everybody being able to (play five years). So, I would think a fairness play would be that it would be allowed.”

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

@jamesbhawkins

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan basketball’s latest roster addition impacted by court ruling