Cincinnati’s backcourt picture took a hit Friday when a court ruled Utah State transfer MJ Collins ineligible for the 2026-27 season, knocking the Bearcats out of the running for a player who looked like a major piece for Jerrod Calhoun’s first Cincinnati roster.
The decision came in the Filip Borovacanin vs. the NCAA case in Ohio. That case had initially produced an injunction that made all players involved eligible, but the NCAA appealed, and that appeal was heard Sept. 22, according to 247Sports. Collins was among the players affected by the ruling.
The eligibility fight is part of a broader wave of cases tied to players from the 2022 graduating high school class. At the center of it is the NCAA’s 5-for-5 policy, which has been challenged as unfair because it wipes out elective and medical redshirts and counts five continuous years of eligibility from the academic year connected to an athlete’s 19th birthday.
Collins, who graduated from Westminster Catawba Christian School in 2022, played four full seasons of college basketball at Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt and Utah State before transferring to Cincinnati and pursuing his case in Ohio. There is still a chance the sweeping Colorado case could help him, but with the regular season closing in, that path looks like a long shot.
For Cincinnati, the loss stings because Collins was more than just a transfer name. He followed Calhoun from Utah State and arrived with real momentum after the best season of his college career. The former four-star recruit at Virginia Tech was named All-Mountain West Second Team and the league’s tournament MVP last season.
At Utah State, Collins started 36 games and averaged 30.7 minutes per night while serving as one of the Aggies’ main scoring threats. He scored 630 points in Logan, which ranks as the 11th-highest total in school history during his brief stay. Collins and Calhoun helped Utah State finish 29-7 overall and 15-5 in Mountain West regular-season and tournament play, claiming both titles.
His numbers at Utah State were strong across the board: 17.5 points per game, 2.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and a 48.7% shooting mark from the field.
Now Cincinnati has to sort out a different reality. Collins’ spot in the starting lineup is open, and the Bearcats will have to look elsewhere for those minutes. The options include Tylen Riley from Tulsa, Elijah Perryman from Utah State, Trevian Carson from North Dakota State, Akai Fleming from Georgia Tech and Myles Colvin from Wake Forest and Purdue.
The roster picture is even thinner because Cincinnati kept only one guard from last season, fifth-year graduate Grant Darbyshire. Calhoun’s frontcourt is rounded out by forwards Tyler Tejada from Towson, Adlan Elamin from Utah State and Jayden Hastings from Boston College.
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