Overview

• Ten current and former Division I athletes filed a class-action complaint on Sept. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
• The suit seeks to let players compete in all five years of their eligibility window rather than being limited to four seasons.
• Named plaintiffs include Vanderbilt’s Langston Patterson and Yilanan (Issa) Ouattara, former Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager, and athletes from football, baseball and tennis.
• Plaintiffs ask the court to certify classes that could cover thousands of athletes, including recent enrollees and those who exhausted eligibility without a redshirt.
• The NCAA said it stands by its eligibility rules and urged congressional action as attorneys note prior eligibility litigation, including Diego Pavia’s preliminary injunction now on appeal.