NC State will have a key defensive player for its season opener against Virginia.
But KaTron Evans’ status for the rest of the Wolfpack season is still up to a federal judge in North Carolina.
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Evans, a transfer from Marshall, is seeking a sixth year of eligibility after missing the entire 2023 season at Charlotte due to poor academic performance after a string of personal tragedies. He sued the NCAA for the additional year.
Evans was eligible through Aug. 24 based on a previous order by Judge Louise A. Flanagan. On Tuesday, she extended that time period, making Evans eligible through the “date of the court’s ruling on the motion.” Since Evans’ response to the NCAA isn’t due until Sept. 3 — after the Wolfpack’s Aug. 29 opener at Virginia — he will be eligible for that game.
If oral arguments are needed, a hearing is set for Sept. 9, Flanagan ordered.
Evans played at Jackson State in 2021 and 2022 but appeared in just one game in 2022 and redshirted. He transferred to Charlotte and missed the entire 2023 season. He played for Charlotte in 2024 and Marshall in 2025.
“It is my firm belief,” NC State coach Dave Doeren told the court in a written declaration, “that KaTron lost a season of football eligibility due to circumstances beyond his control and that the NCAA’s denial of his eligibility extension is causing him and our team immediate and ongoing irreparable harm.”
In his declaration, Doeren said that Evans, a 340-pound nose guard, is expected to play more snaps at that position than any other player on the team.
