Eligibility court cases have become a norm in college sports, and now Oklahoma State men’s basketball is in the middle of one.

Kashie Natt, a Sam Houston transfer guard, had his eligibility waivers canceled by the NCAA and has now filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, first reported by On3. Natt has requested a Payne County judge grant an injunction allowing him to play for the Cowboys in 2026-27.

This comes in the wake of the NCAA’s new age-based “five-for-five” eligibility model that was passed June 23, which states that an athlete has a five-year clock to compete, beginning on their 19th birthday or initial college enrollment, whichever comes first.

Natt began his college career with one season at junior college Southern University-Shreveport before spending three seasons at the NAIA level with LSU Alexandria. He played his first NCAA Division I season this past year at Sam Houston.

Natt and his attorney, Darren Heitner, argue in the lawsuit that if Natt’s “five-year period commenced when he enrolled at LSUA in August 2022, it does not expire until August 2027. Under that construction, Plaintiff should be eligible for one more season during the 2026-27 academic year without any additional waiver.”

According to the NCAA, athletes “who used their final season of competition (under previous rules) during 2025-26” have no additional eligibility under the new model. Within a day of the NCAA’s decision, a lawsuit was filed in an Ohio state court on the basis that this new model is unfair to 2022 high school graduates who ran out of college eligibility this spring under the old model – similar to Natt’s situation.

On social media, Heitner posted that “the NCAA applied an undisclosed categorical policy” to cancel Natt’s waiver instead of “conducting and individualized review its own bylaws require … .”

The suit states: “The NCAA breached its contractual obligations … without applying the individualized waiver criteria invoked by OSU without reasoned engagement with the extenuating circumstances submitted, without properly evaluating the five-year-clock issue, and without adjudicating the requests under the process the NCAA’s own bylaws contemplate.”

Natt, the reigning Conference-USA Defensive Player of the Year, was a huge offseason addition for Lutz and the Cowboys. He started all 34 games for the Bearkats last season and averaged 10.8 points and 8.2 rebounds a game to go along with his elite defense.

Natt was also the 2025 NAIA National Player of the Year in 2025, when he averaged a double-double at LSU Alexandria, scoring 19.9 points and grabbing 10.1 boards a game.

Before his waivers were canceled, Natt was already making an impression at OSU as someone who “constantly brings energy,” Lutz said. During a June 9 practice, the Cowboys were doing old-school defensive step-slides while holding a towel above their heads, and Lutz talked after practice about Natt’s energy even during drills like those.

“I’ve never really said you have to say ‘ball’ or you have to say whatever, and Kashie decided, ‘Hey, Coach, we’re gonna call ball, ball, ball, ball,’” Lutz said. “Well, it’s contagious. And he’s just got that personality. He’s been enjoyable.”

Lutz knew that Natt’s eligibility could be a process. During that June 9 post-practice press conference, Lutz revealed Natt had filed NCAA eligibility waivers and that they were awaiting results. 

“… Depending upon what they say, then you obviously have to take it to the courts,” Lutz said.

Natt has been removed from the official OSU roster, leaving the Cowboys with 13 of 15 roster spots filled. Lutz has said he is also holding a roster spot for Parsa Fallah, who also filed waivers with the NCAA.