Hoffman blocks NCAA, SEC eligibility bans for 41 athletes
The Thursday order pauses rules backed by four major conferences and severe SEC penalties ahead of a Sept. 11 hearing.
AUG 30, 2026
On Thursday, a Dallas County judge temporarily blocked the NCAA, SEC and Greg Sankey from using transfer-portal rules or professional-roster status to keep 41 athletes out of college sports this fall, abruptly undercutting bans adopted by four major conferences.
Judge Martin Hoffman’s order covers only the plaintiffs. The NCAA, SEC or Sankey can return to court to challenge a specific athlete on other grounds, and the order does not guarantee that any of the 41 will play this fall.
Hoffman put the ruling’s standard plainly: “as long as a player would have been eligible to keep playing college sports the following semester under a hypothetical fifth year of eligibility, that player is eligible today.”
The plaintiffs include Cowboys receiver Jordan Hudson, Chiefs teammates Wesley Bissainthe and Omari Evans, and WNBA players Bailey Maupin and Christeen Iwuala. None of those five has appeared in a regular-season NFL or WNBA game.
The SEC had unanimously voted to bar athletes who declared for a professional draft and did not withdraw, sign with a professional team or spend time on a professional roster. Then 15 of the conference’s 16 schools approved penalties for any program that used one of those athletes. LSU abstained.
The punishment package included a half-season suspension for the head coach, a fine worth half of the sport’s annual operating budget and the loss of conference voting rights. It gave schools a steep price for testing the rule.
The Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC announced similar bans on returning professional athletes. The policies followed a June vote by the NCAA Division I board of directors to exclude a group of athletes from a new five-year eligibility window because their return could take roster opportunities from incoming freshmen.
More than 100 athletes are now part of lawsuits challenging that decision, while Hoffman’s order covers 41 plaintiffs. The NCAA won appeals that overturned restraining orders in three other cases during the past week.
The next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 11 and will determine whether Hoffman’s temporary order remains in effect. For now, the 41 plaintiffs can pursue college roster spots without transfer-portal or professional-roster rules automatically blocking them, subject to any other eligibility challenge.