Tough roster conversations incoming thanks to latest NCAA ruling

I’ll be quick with this one.

Judge Charlotte Sweeney in Colorado granted a class-wide injunction Friday that negates the NCAA’s 5-for-5 eligibility rule. This means NCAA athletes from the high school class of 2022 who’s collegiate eligibility ran out after the 2025-26 athletic year have the chance to return to teams or enter the portal if they so choose.

This is going to make for some tough roster conversations across the NCAA. Read more: Tough roster conversations incoming thanks to latest NCAA ruling. 

Let me clear the air — this is not a column predicting who comes back to WVU, or any school for that matter. I just have a quick point to make that’s presumably on the minds of a contingent of fans.

There are only so many spots

Let’s get hypothetical.

Say a school’s starting player exhausted their time with the program and collegiate sports as whole. They go on and fail to make it to the professional level right away in their respective sport. Thanks to the injunction, now they can return to the team they poured their heart out for. The only problem is, that team is elite and already filled the roster gaps with other top talent.

Related: August 2026 WVU Athletics Preview: Soccer, Golf, and Volleyball begin

Does that team tell the incoming star to kick rocks? Do they turn down the person that carries the team on their back for x amount of years? What happens if they decide to pack up a scholarship athlete because they have no other choice?

Those questions create nightmare scenarios for teams. There’s a non-zero chance a roster decision of that magnitude doesn’t ruffle the wrong feathers with fellow players.

Save the speculation

I know speculation is half the fun when it comes to columns or editorials.

That said, there is so much to unpack with this latest move that it wouldn’t be smart. What WVU or any school does when this unpacked can of worms rears its debatably ugly head and forces these discussions regarding player personnel is hard to predict.

What I do know is between future tough decisions and the trends of college athletics today, we’re in for a ride.

I also know that while we haven’t made a splash on the issue itself yet, our team will keep you up to date with the latest fallout on WVU’s end, should it inevitably become relevant.

One final note

Finally, this isn’t to say the move is a complete con. The high school class of 2022 was the first set of athletes to get shafted by the NCAA and other entities to put the toothpaste back in the tube, after all. Arguably, they deserve the same eligibility as those who came before them.

Between COVID years, NIL, and countless court disputes, let’s face it — this is the reality of college athletics.

Love it or hate it, court rulings and legal matters go on the backburner once that first kickoff booms through a stadium on a Saturday in the fall, or the first tip-off takes the center of the hardcourt.

Now we wait for the hundreds of other shoes to fall across the country.

Related: The biggest questions facing WVU Football entering fall camp

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