CU Buffs get very lucky by timing of major suit against NCAA

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is a leader in a lawsuit against the NCAA in West Virginia which has resulted in the temporary suspension of the NCAA’s transfer eligibility rule. This means college athletes like Travis Hunter, who have already transferred, would not have to sit out a year for a second transfer if they hit the portal now.

Weiser was part of a group of state attorneys general last week that filed the lawsuit against the NCAA, challenging a rule that imposes a one-year delay in player eligibility to transfer between Division I college athletic programs. The result is a temporary restraining order on the waiver requirement rule for a second transfer until the next court date on Dec. 27. This opens up a two-week window while the portal is open for athletes to change schools without punishment even if the ruling is changed at month’s end. This means every single athlete in college sports is more or less a free agent right now.

Had this lawsuit been filed and ruled upon just 10 days before, there’s a world in which another school courts Deion Sanders for an open coaching position, all the while a massive NIL collective goes after the All-American Hunter and Sanders’ sons, quarterback Shedeur and safety Shilo for their team.

A big reason it wasn’t even a consideration for Sanders to parlay his one-year improvement at Colorado to a bigger institution is that; to bring his three stars with him, they would have had to sit out next fall all the while being NFL Draft eligible since they had transferred from Jackson State to Boulder a year ago.

Because the NCAA law didn’t fall until Wednesday all but two college football coaching positions have been filled and each of the two left are non-major programs. And Colorado has already been hard at work in both the portal and the prep scene improving the team around Hunter and the Sanders.

“Colorado believes that student-athletes should be able to move freely and transfer to universities where they can best pursue opportunities to thrive,” Weiser said in a news release. “The NCAA’s transfer rule prevents them from doing that and violates the antitrust laws. We are pleased that the court issued a temporary restraining order preventing this rule from being enforced and look forward to reforming the NCAA’s transfer rule on a permanent basis.”

While it was unlikely that Coach Prime and his crew were going to leave Boulder after a single year anyway, it seems almost impossible now even with a big impediment down the drain. In fact, the ruling and the timing of it could be a blessing for the Buffaloes.

Sanders turned the Buffs from the winner of a game to winners of four in a single year and the hype he brought back to the black and gold was largely built on his stardom and the work he accomplished in the portal last winter. It may feel like every college athlete is in the portal but as of last week, it was actually only seven percent of football players. Now Sanders has the green light to get any player in college football on to the Buffs with eligibility to play in the fall of 2024.

How much this changes Coach Prime’s approach and strategy is unknown, but if the Buffs finally get back to the top next year they may owe an unlikely assist to the Centennial State’s Attorney General.