KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – The NCAA has responded to a lawsuit from Tennessee standout Zakai Zeigler, who claims the organization’s “four seasons rule” needs to be thrown out.
Zeigler is the latest athlete to sue the NCAA over player eligibility. The point guard filed the suit in May, asking for court action to allow him to play for the 2025-26 season. In Zeigler’s eyes, limiting a college athlete’s eligibility is illegal under state and federal antitrust laws.
It’s a symptom of college athletics’ shift towards a more professional division. With the introduction, and massive expansion of, Name, Image and Likeness deals, more and more college athletes are looking to make a pretty penny before they’ve even earned a college degree.
As such, players like Zeigler have argued that limiting eligibility also limits a player’s commercial prospects. The NCAA argued in its response, filed Monday, that the “four seasons rule” is integral, because the constant stream of open positions helps create more opportunities for incoming student athletes.
Previous Coverage: Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler sues NCAA over play eligibility
“For a class of graduating high school senior student-athletes to have the opportunity to enter NCAA DI rosters, there must be a corresponding exiting class of graduates to open up those opportunities,” the NCAA said in its response.
That’s the crux of the NCAA’s argument. In the organization’s eyes, college athletics are a means to an end, not the end itself, and a successful athlete’s career will not stop at a university.
Zeigler isn’t the only athlete to push for more eligibility. As more financial opportunities have come about — the NCAA claimed Zeigler has earned more than $1 million during his time at UT — more arguments for extended eligibility have surfaced.
Court records show a motion hearing is scheduled for Friday.
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