Yet another legal domino has fallen for the Texas Tech basketball team. Fortunately, this one went the way all Red Raiders were hoping.
Thursday, a Lubbock judge granted sharpshooter Donovan Atwell a temporary injunction against the NCAA, allowing the fifth-year player to be eligible to compete at the collegiate level...for now. Of course, Atwell is one of hundreds of players from the recruiting class of 2022 suing the NCAA for a fifth year of eligibility under the NCAA's new five-for-five rule, which was enacted earlier this year.
The NCAA does not want to allow players who were part of the 2022 signing class to be given an extra year to play. Why? No one really knows. It makes no sense.
On the other hand, players like Atwell, who are borderline professional prospects but excellent college players, stand to gain millions of dollars in N.I.L. and revenue-sharing opportunities if they are able to play another season of collegiate athletics. Thus, legal fights around the country are shaping the landscape of college sports like never before.
Texas Tech has seen this play out with backup quarterback Tommy Castellanos, who is currently fighting to get his eligibility back after being ruled ineligible prior to the football game against Colorado two weekends ago. He appeared in the first four Texas Tech games before a court took away his right to play by staying an injunction that he had been granted.
Now, Atwell is in the midst of a similar fight. As it sits, he is currently eligible to play, but the NCAA is not going to take the latest ruling in stride. This legal battle is expected to move to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Amarillo for the next round of litigation.
Perhaps no team in college hoops is counting more heavily on fifth-year players this season than Tech. In addition to Atwell, the Red Raiders hope that forwards Darrion Williams and UCF transfer Jamichael Stillwell will also win their lawsuits against the NCAA and join Atwell in the 2026-27 starting five.
In other words, three-fifths of Tech's desired starting lineup this season could be fifth-year seniors. That is placing a ton of faith in the legal system to come through in the clutch.
Right now, Atwell and Williams are eligible to play for Tech because of temporary injunctions. Meanwhile, Stillwell is not eligible due to a September ruling that stayed an earlier injunction granting him eligibility. The hope is that he will have his next hearing before the start of the Texas Tech basketball season on November 4.
Atwell being granted his injunction is a great sign for what lies ahead for Williams and Stillwell. Though each case is unique and might be heard by different judges, the setting of a precedent would go a long way in this nasty fight between the NCAA and the players suing it.
So Texas Tech fans might need to obtain an amateur law degree before the start of the season. That's because Tech's future will depend largely on what happens not on the basketball court, but rather in a legal court.
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