Antitrust lawsuit challenges NCAA’s transfer rule

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wants college athletes to be able to transfer without penalty and filed a federal antitrust suit against the NCAA to make it happen.

Ohio and Yost lead a seven-state coalition looking to stop the NCAA rule that requires college athletes who transfer from one Division I school to another to sit out a year.

Yost said the NCAA began automatically exempting first-time transfers from the rule in 2021 but still enforces the rule for subsequent transfers.

“The rule is riddled with so many exceptions that the NCAA cannot plausibly substantiate its prior justifications,” Yost said. “We're challenging it in order to restore fairness, competition and the autonomy of college athletes in their educational pursuits.”

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, comes about six weeks after Yost sent a letter to the NCAA challenging the waiver denial of Aziz Bandaogo, a 7-foot center who wanted to play basketball at the University of Cincinnati.

Bandaogo was eventually cleared to play.

“We’re challenging the rule to restore fairness, competition and the autonomy of college athletes in their educational pursuits,” Yost said. “The ‘AA’ in NCAA might as well stand for ‘arbitrary and atrocious.' The transfer eligibility rule needlessly curtails the fundamental rights of college athletes.”

The lawsuit says the NCAA’s claim of academic well-being and the preservation of amateurism can be reached without forcing players to sit out a season.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who is part of the suit, filed a separate motion asking for a temporary restraining order to stop the NCAA from enforcing its transfer rule.

Morrisey’s involvement comes after the NCAA denied potential West Virginia University basketball player RaeQuan Battle eligibility.

“Real issues are at stake here for the citizens of West Virginia, and they implicate my duties as the state’s chief antitrust officer,” Morrisey said. “The NCAA also failed to recognize the underlying issues involving RaeQuan and many other student-athletes in similar situations – there’s no reason for the NCAA to deny this young man the ability to play the sport he loves and that helps him with his mental health.”

Joining Ohio and West Virginia in the lawsuit are Tennessee, North Carolina, Illinois, Colorado and New York.