ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan Wolverines national champion Roddy Gayle Jr. sued the NCAA, asking a New York court to allow him to play a fifth season of college basketball after the association excluded athletes from his high school graduating class from a newly expanded eligibility model.
Gayle, a Niagara Falls native who helped Michigan win the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball championship, filed the lawsuit on Monday (Aug. 31) in Niagara County Supreme Court.
The complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief and specifically says Gayle is not seeking monetary damages.
At the center of the lawsuit is an NCAA eligibility overhaul adopted in June that replaced the traditional four-seasons-in-five-years framework with an age-based model providing five years of eligibility without a limit on the number of seasons played during that period.
Gayle’s lawyers argue that, under the new system’s language, he should be eligible for the 2026-27 season.
They contend the NCAA instead created an exclusion for athletes who graduated high school in 2022, enrolled immediately and played four seasons without interruption.
“The exclusion is the deviation,” the complaint says. “Roddy’s inclusion is what the rule’s text requires.”
The NCAA did not immediately respond to the lawsuit in the filing provided.
Gayle graduated from Lewiston-Porter Senior High School in Youngstown, New York, in 2022 and enrolled at Ohio State that fall.
He played two seasons for the Buckeyes before transferring to Michigan, where he played his final two seasons of college.
The 6’4” guard appeared in 146 Division I games over four seasons, starting 72.
According to the lawsuit, he scored 1,288 points and became an important contributor for Michigan during its run to the national championship in April.
Michigan defeated Connecticut 69-63 on April 6 to win the program’s first men’s national championship since 1989.
Gayle averaged 10.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks during Michigan’s first four NCAA Tournament games.
The University of Michigan has offered Gayle an opportunity to return for the 2026-27 season, the lawsuit says, but that opportunity is contingent on NCAA eligibility.
According to the filing, Gayle is currently practicing with the team.
The lawsuit also addresses Gayle’s participation in the NBA Summer League with the Detroit Pistons after he went undrafted in June.
His attorneys emphasize that he has never played a professional regular-season game and that his summer participation consisted of exhibition games for which he received a $1,700 stipend.
The complaint argues that the NCAA has previously allowed players with substantially more professional experience to return to college basketball without having their professional seasons count against their college eligibility.
Examples include James Nnaji, London Johnson, Thierry Darlan, and Abdullah Ahmed.
The complaint alleges those players received additional college eligibility after playing professional basketball in Europe or the NBA G League.
Gayle’s attorneys argue that treating his summer exhibition appearances more harshly would be inconsistent with the NCAA’s previous eligibility decisions.
“Roddy did not fail as a professional,” the complaint says. “He was never a professional in any meaningful sense at all.”
The lawsuit also challenges the NCAA’s treatment of the class of 2022 under the new eligibility system.
Gayle’s attorneys argue that athletes who delayed enrollment or spent time in preparatory school can qualify under the new rules, while athletes who enrolled immediately after graduating in 2022 and played continuously for four seasons cannot.
The complaint further alleges that the NCAA’s policies violate contractual obligations to student-athletes.
Gayle’s attorneys argue that the NCAA Constitution and bylaws constitute a contract between the association and its member institutions and that student-athletes are intended third-party beneficiaries of that agreement.
The lawsuit also invokes New York’s Education Law § 6438-c, which addresses student-athletes’ ability to earn compensation from the use of their names, images, and likenesses.
Gayle’s lawyers argue that losing eligibility also deprives him of potential name, image, and likeness opportunities and direct institutional payments tied to eligibility.
The filing comes after a separate legal battle over the NCAA’s new eligibility rules.
On July 31, a federal court in Colorado issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the NCAA from enforcing the class-of-2022 exclusion.
The NCAA appealed, and on Aug. 21, a divided panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed that injunction while the appeal proceeds.
The complaint says that federal litigation involves antitrust claims and does not resolve Gayle’s New York contract claims.
Gayle’s lawsuit asks the Niagara County court to prohibit the NCAA from enforcing its eligibility rules against him, interfering with Michigan’s decision to allow him to practice and compete, or penalizing Michigan for allowing him to play pursuant to a court order.
He also asks the court to block enforcement of the NCAA’s “Rule of Restitution,” which can subject teams and athletes to penalties if competition under a court order later is determined to have violated NCAA eligibility rules.
Time is a significant issue for Gayle.
Michigan’s fall term began Monday, and the complaint says the university’s deadline to add or modify his class schedule is Sept. 21.
News also broke on Tuesday, Sept. 1, that five-star freshman guard Brandon McCoy Jr. will miss the 2026-27 season after suffering an ACL injury to his right knee.
So Gayle’s addition would significantly help the program find their footing as the reigning, defending NCAA Tournament national champions.
–> Michigan basketball 5-star freshman Brandon McCoy Jr. out for 2026-27 season with ACL injury
The lawsuit argues that preseason practices and roster decisions are occurring now and that a lost college basketball season cannot later be restored through monetary compensation.
According to the complaint, Gayle is scheduled to graduate from Michigan in May 2027.
The lawsuit asks only for declaratory and injunctive relief.
It expressly disclaims monetary damages, restitution, court costs and attorney’s fees.
For Gayle, the case could determine whether the reigning national champions can bring back one of their key contributors for another season, and whether the NCAA can exclude an entire class of athletes from the expanded eligibility system it adopted for the 2026-27 season.
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