Judge rules four West Virginia football players still eligible after JuCo years

Four West Virginia University football players will be able to play in 2025 after a favorable eligibility ruling from a federal judge on Wednesday. The decision is also a boost to many junior college athletes who are hoping to retain NCAA eligibility.

Which players are now eligible to play and why?

Defensive lineman Jimmori Robinson, running back Tye Edwards, safety Justin Harrington and wide receiver Jeff Weimer all attended junior colleges that weren’t members of any NCAA divisions. They filed a lawsuit saying those years in junior college shouldn’t have counted against the NCAA’s five-year limit.

District Judge John Bailey, a West Virginia University College of Law graduate, agreed with the players’ argument that in the NIL era, eligibility rules are “commercial in nature,” and can potentially restrict players’ ability to earn money if they can’t play for a number of seasons. That restriction violates antitrust laws, the judge ruled.

“The Court is not endorsing unlimited eligibility across multiple associations,” Bailey wrote in a 67-page opinion. “Rather, the Court finds that time spent competing at a JUCO—an institution outside the NCAA’s direct governance—should not count against a student-athlete’s NCAA eligibility. The eligibility ‘clock’ should begin only when the student-athlete enrolls at an NCAA-member institution.”

How does this help the Mountaineers?

Head coach Rich Rodriguez will welcome the transfers in the nick of time, especially Tye Edwards, who played at Northern Iowa. The Mountaineers had just two healthy running backs on the roster. The season kicks off in nine days.

“We got to make sure that you know we’re not doing too much too soon,” Rodriguez said. “They got to work their way into shape. Our guys that have been practicing with us are going to be in better shape than somebody new. But we got plenty of time to meet with them. You know, we got to try to keep it simple.”

Was there precedent in this case?

Judge John Bailey aligned his ruling with those made in cases involving players like Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Rutgers safety Jett Elad. But other courts have denied similar eligibility cases, and there are more than two dozen cases still pending in college football alone.

The NCAA  responded to the ruling in the West Virginia case with a statement saying, “This ruling will lead to high school students losing opportunities to compete in college athletics, and it erodes the academic standards that have for decades ensured student-athletes have obtained an education.”

The statement also called on Congress once again to help provide stability for college athletics by passing legislation that would essentially overrule what they called “a patchwork of state laws and differing court opinions.”

The various cases around the country are setting up the potential for what’s known as a “circuit split,” where two federal appeals courts disagree on the same subject. The situation makes it likely that the Supreme Court will step in to resolve the issue.