Dillon Hunter is heading back into the transfer portal, and the reason is bigger than one player or one program.
A federal judge in Colorado ruled July 31 that college athletes who enrolled in 2022 and used up their fourth year of eligibility during the 2025-26 athletic calendar will get an extra season. That decision immediately altered the landscape for a group of players who had been left out of the NCAA’s new “5 in 5” model, which gives athletes five seasons of eligibility and does away with redshirts and waivers.
Hunter, the former Clemson men’s basketball guard, is one of the players affected. He told On3 on Saturday that he is entering the transfer portal.
The ruling effectively overturned the NCAA’s plan for class of 2022 athletes whose final season would have come in 2025-26, leaving them ineligible for 2026-27 under the new setup. Instead, those players now have another year available to them.
Per the ruling, the portal window for anyone choosing to play again opens Aug. 3-10.
There are still questions around how far the ruling goes. The plaintiffs also asked for roster-limit and transfer-rule suspensions, but On3’s Pete Nakos reported it is unclear whether those requests were granted. On Aug. 1, the NCAA sent a letter to member schools saying it would appeal “on an expedited basis.”
Hunter finished last season with Clemson after playing out his final year of eligibility. He averaged 7.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and three assists for the Tigers in 2025-26. He also posted on Instagram on July 20 that he had signed a professional contract with Eisbären Bremerhaven of Germany’s ProA league.
Hunter is not the only former Tiger who could be impacted. RJ Godfrey and Efrem “Butta” Johnson also fit the class of 2022 profile, having enrolled that year and exhausted their eligibility last season. Godfrey was named in a separate lawsuit against the NCAA on July 9 seeking another year, while Johnson entered the transfer portal in April in search of an extra season.
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