KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The National Collegiate Athletic Association filed a response to Zakai Zeigler’s motion for a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit where he is seeking to play a fifth season at the University of Tennessee.
Zeigler sued the NCAA, saying that its rule that only allows players to compete for four seasons within a five-year window violates antitrust laws. His attorneys requested a preliminary injunction that would allow him to play in the 2025-2026 season.
An attorney for the NCAA filed a response to this injunction saying that Zeigler was only able to play in the first place because an older athlete exhausted his eligibility and left the team. Similarly, if Zeigler plays for another season, it will prevent a graduating high school senior from taking his spot, the response said. The attorneys argued that Zeigler would be playing, “at the expense of another student-athlete who would otherwise have the opportunity to take his place.”
The response also argued that the Sherman Act, an antitrust law, only applies to commercial competition and that NCAA’s eligibility requirements are non-commercial.
“The higher education community itself contends that discarding the NCAA’s time-based eligibility rules would undermine the educational missions of NCAA member institutions,” the response said.
The response makes other arguments as well such as saying that an expert for the plaintiff “is not credible” and that the rules don’t harm consumer welfare.
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