Mike DeWine gives his victory speech after winning the Ohio gubernatorial race on Nov. 6, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. (Justin Merriman/Getty Images/TNS).
The NCAA filed a federal lawsuit against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, challenging his executive order that gives Ohio’s colleges and universities an option to let specific student-athletes play for a fifth year.?
The lawsuit, filed Friday, comes three days after DeWine signed an executive order granting that extra year to athletes who graduated high school in 2022, per prior Lantern reporting.?
The dispute stems from the NCAA’s age-based eligibility model, adopted in June. The model sets a five-year eligibility period that begins when a student-athlete first enrolls full-time in college or turns 19, whichever comes first.?
In the lawsuit, NCAA President Charlie Baker described DeWine’s order as a “misguided attempt to give Ohio colleges and universities an unfair, unprecedented and unwarranted competitive advantage in stadiums and arenas throughout the country.”
A spokesperson for DeWine’s office declined comment on the ongoing litigation when contacted on Monday.?
Baker also argued that DeWine “is attempting to give Ohio institutions a hall pass to break the rules.”
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio’s Eastern Division, outlines three primary legal arguments against DeWine’s order.?
The NCAA argues the order violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by giving an advantage to Ohio in-state colleges and universities over institutions in other states. The suit argues the order disrupts the First Amendment because it gives Ohio institutions legal cover to maintain NCAA membership while violating NCAA rules. It also states the order violates state law.
“Under Ohio law, a government official may not take actions that exceed his grant of authority,” the lawsuit states. “Here, Governor DeWine lacks any authority to order Ohio colleges and universities to roster ineligible student-athletes.”
Baker defended the NCAA’s position in a statement, arguing that allowing athletes to return would limit opportunities for other competitors.?
“The NCAA respects and honors the accomplishments of athletes whose eligibility expired in the 2025-26 academic year, and wishes them all the best in the future,” Baker said in the statement. “But allowing them to return for an unexpected fifth season of competition would give them a benefit they never reasonably could have expected, to the detriment of thousands of eligible student-athletes who have been waiting for their opportunity to compete.”
Baker also reiterated the importance of Congress passing the Protect College Sports Act, or PCSA, which would establish national rules in governing areas such as athlete compensation, eligibility and transfer restrictions.?
“While we are confident our complaint will succeed in federal court, the answer to this state-by-state and court-by-court race to the bottom is the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act,” Baker’s statement said. “I encourage every NCAA member to contact their Representative in Congress to pass this bill now so college athletes can be sure they’re playing with the same rules as their opponent.”
The Act passed in the U.S. Senate by a 77-22 vote on Sept. 28, but must still pass in the House of Representatives before it can be enacted as a law, per prior Lantern reporting. According to the NCAA website, the bill would establish a national eligibility model framework based on the NCAA’s current model.
