Carter Loflin has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA as he seeks to gain a fifth year of eligibility.
Loflin, who competed the past four seasons at Georgia though still is enrolled as he completes his undergraduate degree, is requesting a temporary restraining order after the NCAA ruled athletes in the high school graduating class of 2022 ineligible for its new 5-in-5 eligibility model that it rolled out this summer. The lawsuit was filed Monday in the Supreme Court in Athens-Clarke County, according to the Athens Banner-Herald, which spoke to Loflin’s attorney, Nik Erramilli.
“It’s a restraint of trade,” Erramilli told the outlet. “It’s an unfair restrain of his right to access the marketplace, which is prohibited in Georgia. … The 2018, ‘19, ‘20 and ‘21 classes all got COVID waivers. They all got a fifth year and a sixth year at times. This 5-for-5 rule, the NCAA is saying if you came into college in 2023 and began competing you are eligible for it. For some arbitrary reason, just this class is for some reason is just not allowed.”
The 5-in-5 model essentially allows NCAA student-athletes five years to play five seasons. The clock starts upon initial full-time college enrollment or the academic year following a player’s 19th birthday, whichever comes first.
Loflin’s lawsuit is among several across the country as 2022 student-athletes, including some that have already turned pro, fight for fifth years. A district judge in Colorado granted a preliminary injunction a few weeks ago that would allow 2022’s to compete this upcoming season provided they do not transfer outside the transfer window, don’t take a spot away from another player and don’t put the team over its roster limit, though the NCAA was granted a stay last Friday, four days after winning another similar appeal in Ohio.
With Loflin, who won twice among six top-10s last season for Bulldogs, advancing to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur earlier this month, his lawsuit argues that the NCAA “unjustifiably restrains his ability to earn money through use of his name, image and likeness.”
Georgia, which begins its season on Sunday in Knoxville, Tennessee, already has eight players on its roster, which is the maximum allowed by the SEC, which also does not permit midseason transfers or enrollees to compete in that same athletic year. However, the Bulldogs, following Sungyeop Cho recent departure, technically have an open spot since sophomore J.D. Culbreth is a designated student-athlete and is exempt from counting toward the roster limit.
Golf Channel has reached out to Georgia first-year head coach Mookie DeMoss for comment and is awaiting a response.
Loflin isn’t the only 2022 golfer attempting to play a fifth season. Eastern Michigan twins Jasmine and Jenae Leovao, who led the Eagles to the NCAA semifinals last season, are currently awaiting a decision on another injunction in Michigan. The Eagles have already pulled out of their first tournament while a decision is made.
Virginia graduate Bryan Lee was also eyeing a return, though the Cavaliers don’t expect him back as he already turned professional and competed in four events on PGA Tour Americas, making one cut. Still, that hasn’t stopped others; rookie NFL and former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who suited up for the Cleveland Browns in the preseason, was waived by the team and has been granted a temporary restraining order to transfer to LSU and compete this season.
Golf Channel has confirmed that players who have already entered and completed the PGA Tour University program cannot re-apply should they receive an extra year of eligiblity.