CINCINNATI — The Ohio Supreme Court has stepped into the eligibility fight involving University of Cincinnati and Xavier basketball players, staying an Ohio Court of Appeals decision and restoring, for now, the court relief that had kept the players eligible in the case known as Borovicanin v. NCAA.
The high court’s move came a day after Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order on Oct. 13 declaring student-athletes in the Class of 2022 at Ohio public colleges and universities eligible. The Supreme Court ordered both sides to file simultaneous supplemental briefs by 5 p.m. on Oct. 19 addressing what effect the governor’s order has on the case.
At the center of the dispute are players whose college careers have been extended by court rulings, eligibility decisions and now an executive order, in a sequence that has left their status changing from week to week. Among them are Cincinnati guard MJ Collins and Xavier forward Filip Borovicanin, the two Southwest Ohio names most directly affected.
Other players attached to the case are covered by the stay as well, including Keyshawn Hall, a Cleveland native who has played at several schools including UNLV, George Mason, UCF and Auburn, and Evan Mahaffey, a Moeller High School and Akron product whose brother Eric Mahaffey plays for Cincinnati.
The uncertainty has already shaped the preseason on the court. Both Cincinnati and Xavier played exhibition games at the CareSource Invitational at the Lindner Tennis Center in Mason, with the Bearcats beating Ohio State while Collins sat out, and the Musketeers beating Dayton while Borovicanin sat out.
For the programs, the stakes are practical as well as legal. Coaches building rotations for the season opener need to know whether veteran players can be counted on, and players who have already moved between schools and conferences face the possibility that a court filing, rather than an injury or a coach’s decision, determines whether they play.
DeWine’s executive order added a new layer because it applied to players at Ohio’s public colleges and universities, while the Supreme Court’s stay reaches all of the student-athletes attached to the case. The Oct. 19 briefs are meant to sort out how those two actions fit together, and whether the governor’s order changes what the court needs to decide.
No final ruling on eligibility has been issued. Until the court acts further, the stay keeps the earlier relief in place, and Collins, Borovicanin and the other players in the case remain in limbo heading toward the regular season, with the next clear milestone the Monday evening briefing deadline in Columbus.
