The world of college athletics continues to be pure madness.
Of course, the latest rounds of craziness have been self-inflicted by the NCAA. While there was good intention behind the NCAA’s new 5-for-5 rule, the NCAA’s not including the class of 2022 in that rule has created a major mess across the college sports landscape, as the fight for eligibility isn’t being taken to the NCAA itself, but to courts across the country.
This has created ongoing chaos over which players are eligible based on decisions
of random judges around the United States, who almost certainly didn’t envision themselves being cast as central characters in college sports storylines and playing a role in which teams will be contenders for the College Football Playoffs or the Final Four.
But nonetheless, here we are.
One almost needs to be an attorney to fully grasp what is happening in courtrooms around the country in the fight for eligibility. With that being said, Field of 68 brought an attorney on their show to discuss the latest courtroom happenings when it comes to college eligibility.
Mitch Gilfillan is an attorney in Illinois who also played basketball at Lehigh in the early-mid 2000s. Joining Jeff Goodman on Field of 68, Gilfillan offered his prediction about players from the class of 2022 trying to gain eligibility.
Gilfillan followed that up with another post.
Gilfillan makes a very valid point here. Most cases in the court system move slowly and operate on their own calendars as opposed to the sports calendar.
Of course, the sensible thing would’ve been for the NCAA to go ahead and allow class of 2022 athletes to have the extra year, and then this would basically be a non-issue, and the NCAA could proceed with its 5-for-5 rule moving forward. Instead, we now have endless legal battles and many more questions than answers.
We’ll see how it plays out moving forward. The interview is just under 30 minutes and is worth a listen if you’re interested in hearing more of the legal perspective on the issue.
