C.J. Gunn is taking the NCAA to court in hopes of winning a fifth season of eligibility, a move that could clear the way for the transfer guard to play at Missouri.
The suit was filed Wednesday in Boone County, according to the reporting originally published by Eli Hoff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
A hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, and Jeff Harris, a Hickman High School graduate, has been assigned to the case.
Gunn’s petition centers in part on his brief stint with the Calgary Surge in the Canadian Elite Basketball League. He played three games in May and earned $524 in salary.
The suit says Gunn is willing to pay that money back and also sit out three games, including “closed scrimmages and exhibition contests.” Missouri’s exhibition schedule includes games against Kansas State on Oct. 23 and UNLV on Oct.
Gunn’s college path has taken him from Indiana, where he played in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons alongside Tamar Bates in the first of those years, to DePaul for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. In his final season with the Blue Demons, he averaged 13.1 points per game and shot 39.9% from the field.
He then entered the 2026 NBA Draft, went undrafted, and later enrolled at Missouri on Sept. 1.
He is not on the digital roster, though he did appear on a printed roster that Mario Moccia, CEO of Every True Tiger Brands, posted and then quickly deleted on X.
The eligibility issue comes down to NCAA rules tied to the high school class of 2022, which includes Gunn. Under the current guidelines, those players are not grandfathered into the 5-in-5 model. That framework gives student-athletes five seasons to use over a five-year span, starting either on their 19th birthday or when they enroll as a full-time college student, whichever happens first.
Gunn is not the only Missouri player chasing another season. Former Tigers forward Mark Mitchell, who is enrolled at Mizzou and had previously been granted injunctive relief that was then lifted Oct. 2, is also looking for a fifth season.
Like Gunn, Mitchell was absent from the digital roster but showed up on the briefly posted print roster. He could also file a new lawsuit separate from his original group and closer to Missouri.
If either player lands a temporary restraining order allowing him to suit up, the NCAA is likely to appeal. That has been the standard response in similar cases since summer.
Missouri’s Pro Day is set for Sunday afternoon, with coach Dennis Gates scheduled to meet the media afterward. Media Day follows Monday morning, and Gates, freshmen Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant, and junior Bryson Tiller will represent Mizzou at SEC Media Days on Wednesday, according to PowerMizzou’s Drew King.
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