The Court of Appeals of Indiana on Friday announced that it has denied the NCAA’s emergency motion to stay the injunction from Monroe County, Indiana, court that is currently allowing Kansas men’s basketball forward Tre White and KU football players Chase Belcher and Clifton Thompson, among 94 other plaintiffs, a fifth year of eligibility.
In other words, all of those players remain eligible for the moment.
Court of Appeals Chief Judge Elizabeth F. Tavitas authored the order that kept the injunction in place, with her fellow judges concurring. It is believed that the NCAA could contest the Court of Appeals’ decision in the Indiana Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court is not required to accept such an appeal. In fact, it already rejected one attempt by the NCAA’s side to bypass the Court of Appeals entirely and transfer its action against the injunction directly to the Supreme Court. That rejection occurred on Oct. 1.
The denial of the stay is good news for White, Belcher, Thompson and the rest, allowing them to avoid one significant obstacle to their continued eligibility. It also in some sense goes against a nationwide trend, as quite a few trial courts’ injunctions in these eligibility cases have been stayed upon appeal.
If there are no further appeals in the case, the lawsuit could proceed to trial, but the trial might unfold over such a long period of time as to render the ultimate outcome irrelevant — especially for football players like Belcher and Thompson whose season will be over by the end of the calendar year.
Based on the terms of the injunction, KU and these athletes risk no punishment by taking part in games. Thompson, who previously played at Central Connecticut State, debuted for the Jayhawks in their loss to Utah last weekend. Belcher has not yet played. White and fellow KU returnee Melvin Council Jr., who is eligible under his own injunction in the state of New York — to which the NCAA filed an appeal on Thursday — will soon appear for the basketball team.
