Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs order letting state's 2022 athletes play in 2026-27
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order Tuesday giving the state's colleges and universities the option of allowing athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 to play a fifth year in defiance of the NCAA's new eligibility rule.
"When the rules change, fairness has to remain part of the equation," DeWine said in a statement. "We want Ohio's student-athletes to have the same opportunity as student-athletes in other states."
Under the order, public and private universities in Ohio can allow athletes to play even though the NCAA's new guidance excludes those who have already played four seasons.
In a letter to the NCAA's member schools, the governing body's president, Charlie Baker, said Tuesday that DeWine "cannot legislate NCAA eligibility rules."
"One elected official seeking to make their own rules for their own schools' advantage is a terrible way to run athletic competitions," Baker said, while also pushing Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act, a sweeping bill aiming to institute guardrails around how colleges pay their players and what those players can and cannot go to court to fight.
There was no immediate response from the NCAA or any of the eight Division I programs in Ohio, which includes No. 4 Ohio State of the Big Ten, Cincinnati of the Big 12 and six schools in the Mid-American Conference.
"It's important we do not deprive our current student-athletes of the same opportunities enjoyed by their peers," said Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, a former coach who won national championships at both Ohio State and FCS-level Youngstown State.
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With the Ohio executive order, more litigation seems likely.
The judges also asked both attorneys if they should delay their decision to see whether Congress passes the Protect College Sports Act, a bill that made it through the Senate last month that would limit these sorts of lawsuits in the future.
The bill would not preempt active lawsuits, and both attorneys urged the court not to wait, with Shelquist reminding the judges of the narrow window for this group of players who left high school in 2022, with this school year's football season halfway over and basketball season about to begin.
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