RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein won a temporary restraining order after he sued the NCAA over its transfer eligibility rule.
The rule requires student-athletes who transfer between Division I schools to wait a year before competing. The NCAA can make exceptions and waive the rule, however.
Stein announced the antitrust lawsuit last week, saying the NCAA’s rule “artificially deters players and teams from achieving optimal matches by forcing college athletes to weigh the one-year ineligibility period against the benefits of moving to a better matched school.”
The restraining order was announced on Wednesday as part of the lawsuit. Attorneys general from six other states filed the lawsuit along with Stein. They asked the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction so that the NCAA couldn’t enforce the transfer rule.
“I am pleased that the Court has recognized that the NCAA’s transfer rule is unlawful,” Stein said in a statement Wednesday. “I will keep fighting to protect student athletes to ensure that they are free to make their own decisions about what’s best for their futures, just like coaches, administrators and other students can.”
Stein publicly criticized the transfer rule earlier this year in the case of University of North Carolina wide receiver Devontez “Tez” Walker. The NCAA initially said that Walker was ineligible to play this football season, but later reversed the decision after widespread backlash from the public, from UNC officials, and even North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
(WATCH BELOW: UNC receiver Tez Walker ruled eligible for 2023 season)
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