Notre Dame athletic director Peter Bevacqua will honor the roster spots of all current athletes and permit those who were cut this year to return, reports Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. This makes Notre Dame the first university to publicly commit to grandfathering-in current athletes to the roster limits model.
Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua, long a proponent of phasing in roster limits, tells @YahooSports that the school will honor the roster spot of all current athletes and permit those who were cut this year to return, becoming first school to commit to fully grandfathering-in athletes.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 8, 2025
Bevacqua made his announcement after the House vs. NCAA settlement parties filed their revised rules on Wednesday. Two weeks ago, Judge Claudia Wilken gave the settlement parties two weeks to revise the language about roster limits and their implementation. The parties reworked the language so that schools are permitted, but not required, to grandfather-in athletes currently on a roster, those that were cut this year due to early implementation of roster limits, and high school recruits that enrolled at a school after committing to a roster spot that was then cut.
Grandfathered-in athletes will be exempt from roster limits at any school where they compete. That means if their current school does not phase in roster limits, student-athletes can transfer and remain exempt from a roster limit at their new university.
The Power Four conferences reportedly see the revised language as a compromise to Judge Wilken’s wishes. She was interested in a grandfathering-in model during the final approval hearing on April 7. Then, she recommended it in her order sending the parties back to the drawing board two weeks ago. However, whether Judge Wilken views the revision as enough to grant her final approval for the settlement remains an outstanding question.
Judge Wilken has given objectors a week—until May 13—to file responses to the NCAA and power conferences’ revisions. The roster limits have been one of the most heavily criticized parts of the House vs. NCAA settlement. Many objectors spoke against them at the final approval hearing. The plaintiffs and the NCAA will then have until May 16 to respond to the objections. Judge Wilken does not have to wait until this deadline to make a ruling, but this timeline does further extend the window for her to make a ruling.
The NCAA and Division I conferences have spent the past months making decisions as if the settlement was already approved, cutting roster spots and setting up new frameworks for NIL management. This was all in preparation for an approved settlement, which would go into effect July 1. Judge Wilken found these preparations an uncompelling reason to approve the settlement two weeks ago, writing “any disruption that may occur is a problem of Defendants’ and NCAA member schools’ own making.”
If Judge Wilken approves the historic settlement with the revised language, schools will have another decision to make—whether or not they will grandfather-in their athletes.
Lol, sure, anyone who wants to ride the pine is welcome to pay $90k/year for the privilege.
Who already opted to transfer?
I had a lot of not very nice things to say about the way Notre Dame administration handled the men’s team scandal, so I guess it is only right to acknowledge my support for this decision and applaud them for taking this stance. While most of the damage is done, no doubt there are situations where this phasing-in process will provide a student-athlete their sought after relief. Hopefully other universities are influenced by this example.
Which is ironic since they cancelled the mens season and a bunch of guys hit the portal!
Bravo Notre Dame! What great leadership and integrity!
I bet this is the right decision for Notre Dame. Odds are most will come back.
Crazy how the initial push of “let’s give athletes more money” has turned into “oh sweet, now i can delay halving my roster by 4 years instead of immediately”
10/10 lawsuit, hope the $120K is worth it
I hate to keep repeating it, but this week’s CSCAA conference reiterated an important point: that many, many college coaches are not upset by the smaller roster limits.
very true. And the Power 4 schools are in favor of the reduced championship roster maximum.
It is also a lot easier when this is NCAA wide and not one coach holding to a true #. It’s so easy telling kids it’s not my decision to have a limit of 22, my hands are tied. So I can see every coach enjoying having smaller roster #s. Not having walk-ons and kids trying to have a chance and only having your conference roster all year. Sounds pretty awesome to me, who wouldn’t want that?
Evidently, the House always wins at Notre Dame.
I see what you did there…nice
I bet they were “happy” about that
Sprayed the coffee on the keyboard. Well done.
You sir have won the internet for today