5 days ago
Court win vs NCAA 'first big step' for Indiana football safety. What it means
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football safety Louis Moore was granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon as he challenges the organization's junior college eligibility rules.
Judge Dale Tillery in Dallas County District Court ruled in favor of Moore and scheduled a full hearing on the issue for Aug. 27 while ordering both parties to sit down for mediation before that date.
Tillery's ruling will allow Moore to stay with the team beyond the start of the academic term on Aug. 25, but the order expires after 14 days. If he's granted an extension at the next hearing, that would likely prevent the NCAA from enforcing its five-year rule as it applies to Moore through the end of the 2025 season.
"This was the first big step," Moore's attorney Brian P. Lauten told The Herald-Times. "The NCAA made the exact same arguments that they made to three federal courts in the last seven months, all of which were rejected. The courts aren't buying what the NCAA is selling."
Or as he Lauten argued at the hearing, "the NCAA is putting new lyrics on old tunes."
Moore signed with the Hoosiers in 2022 after attending Navarro (Texas) College from 2019-21 (the 2020 season was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic). He returned to Bloomington after spending last season at Ole Miss.
He entered the transfer portal after the NCAA Division I Board of Directors approved a blanket waiver that granted athletes an extra year of eligibility in 2025-26 who "competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years." The guidance came after Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was granted an injunction in federal court after challenging the organization's eligibility rule for JUCO players.
Insider: Curt Cignetti supports Indiana football safety challenging NCAA eligibility ruling
The NCAA still denied Moore's waiver request for an additional year of eligibility in June, and the organization has yet to rule on an appeal the university filed last month.
According to the lawsuit filing, Moore would lose out on a 'one-in-a-lifetime' name, image, and likeness contract worth $400,000, and miss an opportunity to 'enhance his career and reputation by playing another year of Division I football at an NCAA major conference university that likely extends beyond the direct financial returns.'
This story will be updated.
