A federal judge declined to approve a temporary restraining order against the NCAA that would effectively block the organization from denying eligibility to Southern Miss basketball player John Wade III.
The motion for an emergency TRO is part of a lawsuit filed Dec. 20 in the Mississippi Southern District of the U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg. The NCAA has not filed its response to the lawsuit.
Judge Taylor McNeel said in his order denying the restraining order, in part, that he did not want to decide the issue without first hearing from the NCAA.
The motion for a preliminary injunction also was denied in part, but was taken under advisement, meaning the judge will consider some of the elements in the lawsuit while denying others.
“Wade’s dispute with the NCAA over his eligibility for the 2024-25 basketball season dates back to at least July,” McNeel wrote. “Given that this dispute with the NCAA has been ongoing, it would be improper for this Court to grant an ex parte order without giving the NCAA an opportunity to be heard.”
According to Wade’s attorney Clark Hicks of Hattiesburg, Wade, who is from of Oakland, California, enrolled at Contra Costa College after graduating high school, but was not on the basketball team his first year.
Wade later sat out for medical reasons after he was harassed at Cal State Northridge by then-coach Trent Johnson and was granted an additional year of eligibility because of COVID-19, according to court records. Johnson resigned following the incident.
Wade transferred to Cal State Stanislaus for the 2023-24 year before joining the Golden Eagles for the 2024-25 season.
Wade’s case is being compared to a similar case in Tennessee in which Vanderbilt football player Diego Pavia challenged the NCAA’s decision that ruled him ineligible to play.
On Monday, the NCAA granted Pavia a waiver to play in the 2025-26 season, but said it is appealing the ruling in the lawsuit.
McNeel said in Pavia’s case, an emergency TRO was not granted and he did not see any reason to rule differently in Wade’s case.
“Rather than protecting the status quo, Wade’s motion for temporary restraining order seeks to establish it,” McNeel wrote in his order.
Wade’s supporters in statements filed with the court said they believe Wade’s case is different.
“The position of Southern Miss is set forth in the appeal process with the NCAA and focuses on the decision of the NCAA to count the 2018-19 season as a year of eligibility even though Wade did not play basketball on a team and enrolled as a freshman student in California,” USM Compliance Officer Ryan Lee said in his statement.
“Had Wade been on a team and not played, he would be eligible to play at Southern Miss for the 2024-25 season. Had he been a redshirt freshman or sat out for a year or played for a prep academy, in all of those circumstances, he would be eligible to play in the 2024-25 season.”
Lee’s job is to vet potential players to make sure they are eligible to play and in good academic standing.
Hicks was not available for comment Tuesday.
The NCAA has not responded to the Hattiesburg American’s request for comment on Wade’s case.
Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and Clarion Ledger. Contact her at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.
