Notre Dame Becomes First University To Publicly Commit To Grandfathering-In Roster Limits

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.