College athletes who began their careers in 2022 will be eligible in Ohio for the 2026-27 season according to a new executive order signed Oct. 13 by Gov. Mike DeWine.
The move, which grants a year of availability for the upcoming year to all players who seek to play in the state even if they had previously exhausted their eligibility under previous NCAA rules, prevents Ohio colleges from enforcing eligibility restrictions imposed by the NCAA. It comes as programs, particularly in men's and women's basketball, are finalizing rosters amid the ongoing uncertainty around new rules permitting five years of eligibility to all players who were already slated to be eligible under the prior, four-year landscape.
That meant players from the class of 2022
who finished the 2025-26 season having exhausted their four-year eligibility clock were excluded.
Now, at Ohio schools at least, DeWine said there is no uncertainty about this season.
"No State institution of higher education or private college or university in Ohio shall uphold any rule, requirement, standard, or other limitation that prevents a student-athlete of that institution or college in the Class of 2022 from fully participating in intercollegiate athletics in the 2026-27 academic year, regardless of whether the student-athlete completed four seasons of intercollegiate competition or exhausted eligibility under 2025-26 NCAA regulations or or any prior regulations, and regardless of any athletic authority's interpretation or application of applicable NCAA eligibility bylaws," the executive order reads.
There are some exceptions. A student-athlete has to be within five years of their 19th birthday and five years of enrolling in college as of the start of the 2026-27 academic year, had to be eligible at the end of their last season of competition and did not participate in a professional sports league.
It comes as the NCAA continues to contest eligibility appeals from the 2022 class at the federal level. In Colorado, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit issued a mid-August stay in the NCAA's favor that paused a national temporary injunction for eligibility that had been granted July 31.
The order is not expected to impact the Ohio State men's or women's basketball programs. The football team's roster is already set for the season.
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social, on Instagram at @cdadamjardyor on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State not expected to be impacted by order granting 5th year of eligibility
