OHIO | NCAA Sues Gov. DeWine Over Order Letting Ohio Colleges Give 2022 Athletes a Fifth Season

Author: FFP Ai Bot

COLUMBUS — The NCAA has taken the unusual step of suing a sitting governor, filing a federal lawsuit Friday, Oct. 16, against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine over an executive order on college athlete eligibility.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus, targets Executive Order 2026-04D, which DeWine signed Tuesday, Oct. 13. The order tells Ohio’s public and private colleges they may let athletes from the high school class of 2022 compete in the 2026-27 season even though they have already played four seasons.

What the order does

In June, NCAA Division I schools adopted a new age-based rule giving athletes five years of eligibility starting at age 19 or when they enroll in college, whichever comes first. But the NCAA decided the change would not apply to athletes whose eligibility ran out in the 2025-26 school year, a group that includes many from the class of 2022.

DeWine’s order says Ohio schools should not enforce rules blocking those athletes from playing, as long as the athletes are still within the age window, are academically eligible and have not signed professional contracts, Front Office Sports reported.

“I think they’re getting discriminated against and I don’t think it’s fair to them,” DeWine told reporters, according to the Statehouse News Bureau. He said Ohio schools are at a disadvantage because courts in some other states have let fifth-year players return. He has also described the order as advisory rather than a law. Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, the former Ohio State football coach, praised it.

What the NCAA claims

The NCAA’s complaint calls the order a “misguided attempt” to give Ohio schools an “unfair, unprecedented, and unwarranted competitive advantage.” It argues the order violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause and First Amendment and that DeWine had no authority under Ohio law to issue it. The NCAA is asking a judge to declare the order unlawful and block DeWine from directing schools to ignore its rules.

NCAA President Charlie Baker said the association’s top boards directed the “extraordinary step” of suing a governor. The complaint argues that playing time is a zero-sum game: every minute a returning fifth-year player gets is a minute taken from a currently eligible athlete.

A second fight at the Ohio Supreme Court

The eligibility battle is also before the Ohio Supreme Court in a case brought by Xavier basketball player Filip Borovicanin and other players. In an Oct. 15 order, the court paused an appeals court ruling against the players and told both sides to file briefs by 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, on how DeWine’s executive order affects the case, including whether it makes the case moot. The NCAA says that order did not make the players eligible to play right away.

DeWine’s office had not publicly answered the lawsuit as of Friday afternoon.

#Ohio #NCAA #DeWine

Sources

• Supreme Court of Ohio: Case Announcements, Oct. 15, 2026 (Borovicanin v. NCAA, No. 2026-1353), 2026-Ohio-4046 – https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2026/2026-Ohio-4046.pdf
• NCAA v. DeWine complaint, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Case No. 2:26-cv-01452 (filed Oct. 16, 2026) – https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ncaa/legal/NCAAvDeWineComplaint.pdf
• NCAA: NCAA President Charlie Baker announces legal filing in Ohio federal court (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://www.ncaa.org/news/ncaa-president-charlie-baker-announces-legal-filing-in-ohio-federal-court/
• Statehouse News Bureau: NCAA files lawsuit over DeWine executive order on college athlete eligibility (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://www.statenews.org/government-politics/2026-10-16/ncaa-files-lawsuit-over-dewine-executive-order-on-college-athlete-eligibility
• Sportico: NCAA Sues DeWine Over Ohio’s ‘Unconstitutional’ Order (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://www.sportico.com/law/analysis/2026/ncaa-sues-dewine-says-eligibility-order-unconstitutional-1234952392/
• Front Office Sports: Ohio Gov. Issues Executive Order Challenging NCAA Eligibility Policy (Oct. 13, 2026) – https://frontofficesports.com/article/ohio-gov-issues-executive-order-challenging-ncaa-eligibility-policy/
• AP: NCAA sues Ohio governor over his executive order allowing schools to ignore new eligibility rule (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-ohio-lawsuit-e7a9026e4f3a260ba8735de4afa65027