The Tenth Circuit finally weighed in on the Colorado case that allowed all 2022 class athletes a fifth year of eligibility. The court decided in favor of the NCAA, basically not allowing a fifth year for the seniors who exhausted their eligibility last season. Seniors like Braeden Carrington are a perfect case study for this, as he played basketball for four straight years from high school, never using a redshirt.
Carrington is seeking to use a fifth year as a 2022 class athlete, and for now he is still cleared to play. The Tenth Circuit actually changed nothing about his status. Since the case the Tenth Circuit examined was specific to Colorado and the motion for all 2022 athletes, any individual lawsuits at the local or state level do not apply. It wasn't a big magic wand for all the lawsuits, but for a very specific lawsuit.
Since Braeden Carrington was named a plaintiff in a state court case in California for eligibility... The Tenth Circuit does not change the fact that he's still CLEAR to play next season.
— Badger of Honor (@BadgerOfHonorFS) August 21, 2026
Expect more lawsuits but for now Braeden Carrington is cleared to play next season
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Braeden Carrington was part of a lawsuit with Donovan Dent, Jordan Pope, Xavian Lee, and about 20 other players in California. This injunction went in favor of the players, and so all are still eligible for next season. Of course, this is pending more lawsuits coming from the NCAA. Two things happened with this Tenth Circuit decision.
The first is what is mentioned above: the fact that any players with individual cases at the state or local level and who were approved are still good to play. But the second, and this is vital for Carrington, among others, is that the NCAA will now need to either fight each of these individually or find a way to get a federal lawsuit to bring a magic wand over all of this.
The fight is still ongoing, and there's a lot at stake both at the individual and broader college landscape level. For now, Carrington is still approved to play. The weird thing is that since that TRO was approved for Carrington, nothing has been said or reported on the Wisconsin side. In fact, Carrington hasn't even said anything.
Wisconsin can bring back Braeden Carrington, so why haven't they officially done this?
Greg Gard has had a tendency to stay away from all the legal nonsense that happens around college athletics. He often skates around specific questions related to it and often says things like "wait and see."Which is a very appropriate response; however, this issue isn't going away, and Gard may end up having to say something or officially add Carrington.
The one thing that has been happening is that Carrington has been practicing at times with the Badgers, and he's been around the program. It may be Gard's way of keeping things close but not decided. He also said at one point, they wanted to use the final roster spot for a big man, but since that also hasn't happened, it seems like Carrington may end up being the best and perfect option, even if it creates too much guard depth.
You can expect something to be said soon, but there will also be a bit of waiting that could come first.
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