RALEIGH — Dozens of former college basketball players, including three who played at NC State last season, are suing the NCAA in an effort to gain an additional year of eligibility to play.
The former NC State players — Darrion Williams, Tre Holloman and Ven-Allen Lubin — have used four years of eligibility. They are among 52 plaintiffs in the case filed Thursday. The lawsuit, filed in Guilford County Superior Court, asks a judge to force the NCAA to allow the players to join teams before the school year begins and play another season.
Other WRAL Top Stories
The NCAA has faced a slew of similar lawsuits after it established new age-based eligibility standards in June. The new rule allows for a continuous five-year eligibility period that begins when an athlete enrolls in college or turns 19, whichever is earlier. There are some limited exceptions.
Current college athletes with eligibility remaining, those who enroll in college during the 2026-27 school year, or prospects who enroll after the 2026-27 year are all eligible for the new rules. Athletes who exhausted their eligibility in 2025-26 — such as the three NC State players — aren’t eligible under the new rules.
But with college athletes able to make hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions from playing sports many in the high school graduating class or incoming college class of 2022 are filing suits. In other words, an extra year of eligibility could bring significant income to the players — and perhaps boost their prospects of eventually going pro.
Williams played at Nevada in 2022-23, at Texas Tech from 2023 to 2025 and at NC State in 2025-26. An All-Big 12 first-team selection at Texas Tech, he was the preseason ACC Player of the Year for the Wolfpack.
Holloman played three seasons at Michigan State before transferring to NC State for his fourth season. Lubin played one season each at Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, North Carolina and NC State.
Under the new rules, all would have been eligible for another college season.
Players from other North Carolina colleges — including Wake Forest, High Point, Appalachian State, North Carolina A&T, Charlotte, UNC-Wilmington and Elon — are also plaintiffs in the case.
Earlier this month, an Ohio judge granted a preliminary injunction benefiting 24 men’s and women’s college basketball players in a similar eligibility case against the NCAA, allowing the players to enter the transfer portal. That case will go to trial.
In addition, the plaintiffs in the new North Carolina case are requesting that the court stop the NCAA from enforcing its rules that allow the organization to punish schools who accept a transfer outside the normal transfer portal windows. This year’s transfer portal for men’s basketball was in April — before the NCAA rule change.
“While the immediate lawsuits challenging the new eligibility rules are incredibly disheartening, the changes create a sustainable model, a model that more closely aligns with the traditional educational timeline after high school, provides a meaningful participation opportunity for student-athletes, protects competitive equity, and preserves opportunities for future generations of college student-athletes,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said earlier this month at a media event previewing the ACC football season.
The 16-member NCAA Division I board of directors said in July that it doesn’t plan to change the eligibility rule despite the lawsuits.
“The board has no plans to modify their application, notwithstanding a series of lawsuits recently filed on behalf of student-athletes with no remaining eligibility,” the board said in a post on social media. “We look forward to ensuring that the age-based eligibility rules are enforced consistently so that all institutions play by the same rules, like all participants in sports."
