Ohio Supreme Court Keeps Two Dozen Basketball Players Eligible with Season Openers Looming

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court filed an order Thursday that will keep the two dozen players involved in an eligibility case in that state available to play for teams across the country, with the start of college basketball season beginning next week.

The order kept in place a ruling from earlier this month, when the state's high court stayed a lower-court ruling that would have declared the players ineligible.

The NCAA is the defendant in a case filed by lead plaintiff Filip Borovicanin of Xavier, which opens its season on Monday. Other basketball players in the case include Gonzaga's Javon Bennett, Cincinnati's MJ Collins and Auburn's Kolby King.

The court became involved in the college eligibility issue when it was asked to determine the legality of an executive order issued earlier this month by Gov. Mike DeWine that granted athletes in Ohio who graduated from high school in 2022 a fifth year of college eligibility in defiance of NCAA rules.

Part of the case involved both parties asking the court to weigh in on the Borovicanin case.

The NCAA then sued DeWine in federal court, saying his order made it "impossible for all schools to compete on a level playing field."

Earlier this year, the NCAA passed a rule granting players five seasons of eligibility, but it did not include the high school class of '22 in the new rule. That, in turn, has triggered dozens of lawsuits across the country and created chaos as coaches try to finalize their rosters.