The college sports world is about to become a sea of lawsuits as the class of 2022 players seek a fifth year of eligibility. With a ton of drama currently surrounding conferences setting up rules for players signing pro contracts to return to college sports (primarily the NFL at the moment), that has turned the BBN’s attention to whether Mark Mitchell will suit up for the Cats at all this season.
Well, it appears Judge Brian Edwards put one particular part into the TRO that at least helps Mitchell’s
battle against the NCAA, according to WDRB’s Eric Crawford. In it, Edwards found that the NCAA is barred from preventing the plaintiffs from competing due to them signing professional contracts.
However, they would have to terminate those contracts and return money received (within reason) in seven days.
“Perhaps most significantly, Edwards barred the NCAA from preventing plaintiffs from competing because they signed professional or agent contracts or participated in professional games or practices, provided they terminate those contracts and return money received, except for reasonable and necessary expenses, within seven days.”
So even if Mitchell ever received any money from the Denver Nuggets when he played for their NBA Summer League team, he’ll be good to go so long as he returns the money.
Then on Wednesday, Kentucky and Mitchell got even more good news when SEC director of communications Craig Pinkerton told Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader that, under the SEC’s new policy barring former professionals from returning to school, Mitchell should be in the clear from the league’s new rules.
“A player who played in the 2026 NBA Summer League still could be eligible to play in the SEC during the 2026-27 season if (1) he did not enter the 2026 NBA Draft as an early entrant (and instead was automatically eligible for the 2026 NBA Draft based on NCAA rules in effect at that time) and (2) he never signed any type of NBA contract, including an Exhibit 10 or Two-Way contract,” Pinkerton said.
As a refresher, seniors who exhaust their eligibility, like Mitchell did this past spring, are automatically entered into the NBA Draft. So Mitchell himself never entered the draft and obviously never withdrew since he thought his college career was over. And he never signed an NBA contract with the Nuggets to play in the NBA Summer League, as he only agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal that was never signed.
All told, it looks like the SEC’s new rules do NOT apply to Mitchell, which is great news. However, he’ll still need to fight the NCAA in court to stay eligible throughout the 2026-27 season.
They’re not quite out of the woods yet, but the odds of Mitchell playing for the Cats next season just got a nice boost.
