After some confusion, attorneys in the NCAA v. House case are expected to file a revision to the settlement that will grant schools the ability to grandfather in roster limits.
The revision, which is expected to be filed on Wednesday night, comes after Judge Claudia Wilken delayed final approval of the case over roster limits, calling on attorneys to add a grandfathering clause to roster limits “so that members of the Injunctive Relief Settlement Class will not be harmed by the immediate implementation of the roster limits provision.”
Initially, an Associated Press report seemed to indicate that roster spots would be found for only those who individually objected to the case, though that was cleared up on Tuesday by CBS Sports‘ Brandon Marcello.
Some confusion over roster limits in AP story. I reached out to Steve Berman for clarity on if deal pertains only to objectors.”
“No, it covers all who are designated student athletes – anyone who lost a roster spot, not just objectors. The chart is just to show how it works” https://t.co/Gc3m0xXy1D
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) May 6, 2025
It was later reported on Tuesday that House v. NCAA plaintiffs had requested grandfather protection for all athletes who lost spots because of roster limits. This will act as a safeguard for current student-athletes, allowing them to continue to operate under the old set of rules (with larger rosters) while they finish out their career.
Grandfathering in the roster limits will be an option for schools, Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reports, noting that it will also permit athletes who leave their current school to keep their grandfather status at their new school.
Judge Wilken gave attorneys a May 7 deadline to submit a revision to the settlement addressing the roster limit situation, and the filing is expected tonight.
Once that is filed, the door is open for Judge Wilken to approve the settlement. At the final approval hearing in April, roster limits were the main sticking point for Wilken. She found no issue with the $20.5 million schools will be able to pay their athletes in NIL money and the $2.8 billion in back pay damages former athletes will receive.
So….optional and up to the schools. Curious to see how many of the thousands of athletes that were cut get brought back. This case should not be signed by the judge as it is harming a large group within the settling group. With the outgoing money being forced by this case the colleges would not have cut these kids. And let’s remember that’s what they are….kids. Welcome to the real world kids. Where is USA swimming and the US Olympic committee in all of this, as the Olympic sports will be slaughtered here.
This is just like Fortnite. The players (swimmers) that got eliminated (cut) can get rebooted (grandfathered in) but if they left the lobby (transferred) then they can’t get back in the game. Crazy
This is all a mess! Kids that were cut and chose not to go into the portal will be the most affected. Some chose for academics as well! My kid will be affected by this! She’s so worried she will now be asked to come back! She said there is no way she can go back knowing her coach cut her and she didn’t need to… now she’s at risk for losing everything. You even wrote an article about my girl. We still don’t know what she’s going to be able to keep as a student athlete.
Hrumpf, Hrurumpf go the pundits crackling about the why and why not about nothing to be changed except that roster limits are the wave of the future, NIL $ is for real in NCAA swimming and the sport is changing radically. All for the good! Too ALL – Please try to enjoy the ride!
This should have been decided in December. Total mess. I am especially happy for the juniors moving to their senior year. I hope they get to finish out what they started now. For those that were cut and don’t go back, give them back their year. Special redshirts should be granted due to the NCAAs mess.
However, the next phase looks to just make things worse. There is no doubt that additional lawsuits are incoming. Unfortunately, I don’t see how this helps the future of swimming. If anything, it will just add to its destruction.
NCAA, School Administrations, AD’s, Conference Administrations and this Judge should ALL be ashamed of themselves. They have failed these student-athletes(kids), they have ripped the hearts out of these kids and the sports they have dedicated themselves to. The lack of forethought given to protect these student-athletes in this situation and now after so many lives have been altered and destroyed it is being walked back to grandfather them in(while I understand the thought), the damage has already been done. If there isn’t already, I’d be surprised if there aren’t major lawsuits coming down the pike at not only the NCAA but also the major conferences that mandated these cuts before the judge approved everything. This should have been handled better,… Read more »
It seems that if athletes keep their “grandfather” status at a new school become more valuable as a transfer because they don’t affect the roster cap at their new school. Do you have to be cut for that to apply? What if you were just told you were unlikely to be kept on so you entered the portal? Would you then basically have to apply it to everyone this year who is A. Cut, or B. Enters the portal? Could you then get a Bella Sims or some other high end transfer and they don’t affect the roster cap? Could SEC schools skirt the men’s limits for a year or two through this method? All the questions.
I seriously doubt SEC schools will go above 22 for men. Unfortunately it seems that the decision was made back in Oct and they will dig their heels in. The ADs look at numbers and dollars and that’s it.
Wonder how this will play into it? https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq/news/kentucky-wildcats-athletic-department-llc-company