Jaheim Patterson and Van Wells are back in court, and this time the fight is about getting on the field for Oregon State in 2026.
The safety and center filed a 23-page lawsuit Tuesday in Benton County Circuit Court against the NCAA, accusing the governing body of breach of contract, declaratory judgment and intentional interference with contractual relations. They are asking for injunctive relief so they can regain eligibility to play for the Beavers this season, shield Oregon State from punishment if they do play, and collect $50,000 in damages.
Patterson and Wells had already returned to OSU after the Colorado federal court injunction that allowed athletes who began college in 2022 to use a fifth year of eligibility. The NCAA later won a stay in that case, and the appeal is now moving through the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, a process that could take weeks.
The lawsuit lays out the broader challenge to the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility model, which has been exempted from applying to the high school class of 2022. It also points to similar rulings around the country for players seeking fifth seasons.
“The New Rule and its selective application are patently unfair and arbitrary,” J. Alexander Bish of Stoel Rives, the lead attorney for Patterson and Wells, states in the lawsuit. “Predictably, the NCAA’s decision to draw the line where it did has spawned litigation across the country in both state and federal courts - and, with mounting frequency, courts have sided with the excluded athletes.”
Bish also writes that Patterson and Wells “would have returned to play a fifth year” had they been given that option after the 2025-26 season.
“But the NCAA’s then-existing rules told Patterson and Wells that they had no eligibility remaining,” Bish writes. “Taking the NCAA at its word, both Plaintiffs pursued professional opportunities.
Neither was drafted. Neither signed with a team.
After going undrafted and not signing with professional teams, Patterson and Wells came back to Oregon State last month following the Colorado federal court decision. The filing says they enrolled in graduate programs and “signed an NIL agreement” with OSU, all of it tied to their ability to play this season. That’s the basis for the intentional interference claim.
The timing matters. Oregon State opens Saturday at No.
23 Houston at 9 a.m. PT on ESPN, and teams must submit their final 105-man rosters for the 2026-27 season on Friday.
There is at least one recent example of how quickly these cases can move. Villanova quarterback Pat McQuaide received a temporary restraining order against the Patriot League on Friday afternoon and played that night.
Oregon State coach JaMarcus Shephard had already said Patterson and Wells were “working separately” from the school to find a path to play this season.
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