Wisconsin CB Nyzier Fourqurean granted preliminary injunction against NCAA

Wisconsin cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean’s preliminary injunction request against the NCAA was granted Thursday. In a lawsuit filed last month in the U.S. Western District of Wisconsin, Fourqurean pushed for an extra year of eligibility arguing his season at Division II Grand Valley State should not count towards his overall eligibility.

Citing that Fourqurean’s argument would succeed on the antitrust claim, Judge William M. Conley granted the preliminary injunction in an unprecedented legal win. Fourqurean’s request for a final season of eligibility was previously denied by the NCAA. He had an offer to return to the Badgers for the 2025 season.

“Moreover, defendant’s eligibility rules likely depress competition for roster spots, and thus, player NIL earnings, by categorically excluding athletes after four seasons of competition when their marketability for NIL income is more likely than not to be at its apex,” Conley wrote in his decision. “Accordingly, plaintiff has shown that the Five-Year Rule has an anticompetitive effect.”

Not allowing Division II athletes to compete in a third and fourth year of FBS due to their previous academic career and limiting economic opportunities violates the Sherman Antitrust Act, Fourqurean argued. Conley’s decision on Thursday sets the table for more eligibility questions in the courtroom for the NCAA.

Conley’s decision does not aim to disarm the NCAA’s five-year rule. Instead, it calls out the NCAA’s waiver process.

“The waiver process itself appears problematic given plaintiff’s counsel’s representation that only the UW, and not plaintiff himself, could apply for a waiver, functionally requiring an NCAA-member institution to sponsor a student-athlete before he can apply for a waiver, further restricting his ability to market his services,” the judge wrote.

The NCAA released a statement disagreeing with the decision. It further called on Congress to step in to help settle the landscape.

“The NCAA supports all student-athletes maximizing their name, image and likeness potential, but today’s ruling creates even more uncertainty and may lead to countless high school students losing opportunities to compete in college athletics,” the statement read. “Altering the enforcement of foundational eligibility rules – approved and supported by membership leaders – that are designed to help ensure competition is safe and fair for current and future student-athletes makes a shifting environment even more unsettled.

“The NCAA and its member schools are making changes to deliver more benefits to student-athletes, but the recent patchwork of state laws and court opinions continues to make clear that partnering with Congress is essential to provide stability for the future for all college athletes.”

Fourqurean’s lawsuit comes on the heels of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s lawsuit, where he argued that because the governing body counts junior college seasons towards NCAA eligibility and athletes cannot redshirt after they have played four years, NCAA rules violate antitrust law. He was granted a preliminary injunction against the NCAA and is returning to the Commodores for a final season.

The NCAA has faced an onslaught of battles in the courtroom. The U.S. Department of Justice settled with the NCAA last spring, allowing athletes to transfer an unlimited number of times. In Tennessee v. NCAA, athletes can now negotiate NIL contracts before announcing commitments thanks to a preliminary injunction.

“Thus, although the court does not agree with all of defendant’s asserted procompetitive effects of the Five-Year Rule, the court concludes that defendant has offered a legitimate, procompetitive rationale for its eligibility restraints on competition being tied to academic progress,” Conley wrote.”