Former Boston College forward Aidan Shaw is among 11 athletes joining a federal class-action lawsuit against the NCAA over its new age-based eligibility rules.
Per Thomas Goldkamp and Ross Dellenger of On3, the suit spans four sports and challenges the NCAA’s updated model, which plaintiffs say unfairly shuts out thousands of athletes from a fifth season of competition while opening extra eligibility for others.
The NCAA Division I recently approved a new age-based eligibility framework that gives student-athletes up to five years of competition. Under the rule, the eligibility clock begins either when a player enrolls full-time in college or at the start of the academic year after the athlete’s 19th birthday, whichever comes first. The policy is set to apply to athletes who first enroll full-time in college in the fall of 2027 or later.
Shaw was in his fourth year of eligibility during the 2025-26 season at Boston College. After that season, he declared for the 2026 NBA Draft, but he was not selected.
The lawsuit, led by Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, LLP, argues that the NCAA is denying players who already finished four seasons before the rule change the same opportunity to play an additional year, continue their education, and benefit from NIL compensation.
According to Varnum Law, "By strictly eliminating nearly all waivers, redshirts, and medical hardship extensions, plaintiffs argue the NCAA is artificially capping the earning potential and professional development of college athletes without valid pro-competitive justifications."
Rob Shelquist, a partner at Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, LLP, said, "These athletes aren't asking for special treatment. They're asking to not be singled out and excluded from the NCAA's eligibility framework."
He added, "The NCAA updated the rules but refused to apply them only to the very group that was most immediately affected. If the NCAA has determined that five years of eligibility is the fair rule for college athletes, then athletes who would be eligible but for completing four years of eligibility should not be deprived of the same educational, athletic, and NIL opportunities."
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