Former Syracuse guard J.J. Starling may be making another run at college basketball.
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported Wednesday that Starling is among a group of players added to an injunction in California for athletes from the high school class of 2022. Rothstein previously reported on July 17 that three attorneys were “currently filing an injunction in California for members of the HS Class of 2022 who have just completed their fourth year of competition.”
If Starling ultimately gets the green light for a fifth season in 2026-27, though, it won’t be with Syracuse.
The Orange are already sitting at the NCAA-permitted roster limit of 15 for next season, and that’s before factoring in transfer forward Amarri Monroe, who committed last week from Quinnipiac of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (“MAAC”). Starling and Monroe have both already played four seasons of college basketball, and the NCAA’s new 5-for-5 model does not grant another year to class of 2022 players who have already used four seasons.
Starling, a 6-foot-4, 206-pound guard from Baldwinsville, N.Y., spent three seasons with Syracuse after starting his college career at Notre Dame, where he made the ACC All-Freshman team in 2022-23. In the 2022 prep cycle, he was a five-star, top-25 national recruit and a McDonald’s All-American.
His senior season with Syracuse in 2025-26 was uneven as the Orange finished 15-17. Starling averaged 29.0 minutes, 10.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, but his shot deserted him. He hit 41.9 percent from the field, 28.9 percent from three and 54.8 percent at the free-throw line.
The legal fight over the extra year is still moving. In late July, U.S.
District Court of Colorado Judge Charlotte Sweeney issued an injunction with certain parameters that allowed 2022 athletes a fifth season of eligibility. Earlier this week, she denied the NCAA’s request to pause that ruling after granting the injunction on July 31, but the case is headed to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver after the NCAA appealed.
Rothstein’s report said Darren Heitner, founder of Heitner Legal PLLC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is one of the three attorneys involved in the California injunction. An email to Heitner on Wednesday afternoon was not immediately returned.
Heitner told Inside the Loud House last week that he doesn’t necessarily believe the federal injunction in Colorado will last for the entire 2026-27 season. He also said, “Athletes who want certainty are better off as named plaintiffs in individual state-court actions, several of which have already produced favorable injunctions.”
In Other News...
JJ Starling Just Put His College Future Back In Play
JJ Starling has put his college future back in play by joining a California lawsuit aimed at opening the door to a fifth year of eligibility for players in the 2022 high school graduating class. The former Syracuse guard is part of a challenge to the NCAAs 5-in-5 rule, which currently does not give that extra season to athletes from that class, and the case arrives amid a wider push across the country over how long college players should be able to compete.
The timing matters because this fight is already moving in other places, too, with a recent temporary injunction in Colorado giving some 2022-class athletes a path to a fifth year for now. For Syracuse fans, Starlings name in the mix adds another layer to a roster and career track that have already been closely watched, and the next turn in the litigation could determine whether his college options are still very much alive. [Read more 🡒]
Tom Coughlin Brings A Powerful Syracuse Reminder To Fran Browns Camp
Tom Coughlin showed up at Syracuse football practice during August camp, adding a familiar and influential voice to a stretch of work that has the Orange focused on sharpening up before the season opener. The former Syracuse player and two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach spent time around Fran Browns team while practice continued as scheduled, another reminder of the programs long coaching lineage and the standard that comes with it.
The visit came with no specific explanation from the school, but it still landed as a meaningful moment in camp, where Syracuse has multiple practices left before turning the page to game week. For Brown and his staff, it is the kind of presence that naturally draws attention, especially when it comes from someone whose ties to the program run deep and whose career carries instant credibility in any football setting. [Read more 🡒]