Judge rules against four UNC, Duke players seeking fifth year of eligibility

The NCAA's years-long losing streak in the courtroom came to an end on Tuesday. At least temporarily.

Judge Matthew T. Houston on Tuesday declined to grant an injunction to former Duke football players Ryan Smith, Tre'Shon Devones and Cam Bergeron and former North Carolina player JJ Jones for a fifth (or sixth) year of eligibility The four players filed their case under the legal theory of, "Everyone else gets to, why shouldn't we?"

What separated the case of the North Carolina Four from Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Wisconsin cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean was that in the North Carolina case, all four plaintiffs played their entire respective careers at the FBS level. Pavia started his career in junior college, and Fourqurean in Division II. 

In fact, all four plaintiffs enjoyed what most would describe as long, successful careers as FBS players. Each appeared in at least 46 games. Smith, a freshman during the 2020 covid year, played in 56. Devones began his career at Rice in 2019. Bergeron won the  K.D. Kennedy Iron Devil Award at Duke.

But all four experienced the typical bumps and bruises common to the major college football experienced. Lawyers for the plaintiffs claimed their clients experienced "lack of playing time, injuries, mental health challenges, the death of loved ones, difficulty adjusting to academic rigors or coaching decisions that forced them into action," according to WRAL in North Carolina.

The plaintiffs also argued that their clients were at risk of being cast aside as a "lost generation," stuck between the covid era (even though two were in college in 2020) and the anticipated change to NCAA rules that could grant athletes five years to play five, instead of the longstanding four-to-play-five rule.

“It just seems incomprehensible that one more year for various reasons that each of them deserves that they shouldn’t be granted that, and we’re hopeful that as we can fully present our case that we will be able to prove that,” said Diana Florence, a lawyer for the players.

Ultimately, Houston ruled from the bench that their cases were not compelling enough to grant an injunction. "I don't think, at this point, that there's sufficient, adequate information in the record to support a finding ... as to an unreasonable restraint of trade," Houston said.

The Duke players have already had their NCAA waivers denied. Jones's case is still pending. The plaintiffs asked for an injunction because of the upcoming NFL draft, where any of the four could be drafted or sign a free-agent contract, though they would have preferred to remain in college. Jones claims a $500,000 offer to return to college, should he be eligibile.

Two more cases are still pending in federal court, one brought by former Rutgers safety Jett Elad seeking a seventh season and another by former NC State safety Corey Coley, Jr., seeking a fifth season.