Vols’ Zeigler rejected injunction for 5th season
Jun 12, 2025, 11:41 AM ET KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– A federal judge on Thursday rejected Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler’s request for an initial injunction that would enable him to play a 5th season of Division I basketball in five years.U.S.
District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer listened to arguments in a hearing June 6 in Knoxville and entered her rejection Thursday morning. She composed that Zeigler stopped working to show he would likely prosper in his argument that the NCAA keeping him from playing a 5th season of Division I basketball is an offense under the Sherman Act.
“This Court is a court of law, not policy,” Crytzer wrote in her order rejecting the injunction. “What the NCAA should do as a policy matter to benefit student professional athletes is beyond the reach of the Sherman Act and TTPA and by extension, this Court.”
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The two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year asked for an injunction when he took legal action against the NCAA on Might 20 over its rules limiting him to four seasons in a five-year window as an unlawful restraint of trade under both federal and Tennessee laws.His claim argues he could earn in between$ 2 million and $4 million with another season. His lawyers explained this is just a primary step in this legal battle.
“We are dissatisfied the Court declined to give an initial injunction on the basis that the NCAA does not directly control NIL payment, just days after your home settlement validated they would do precisely that,” Litson PLLC and the Garza Law practice said in a declaration. “This judgment is simply the very first chapter of what we believe will ultimately be a successful difficulty. We mean to push forward and are assessing the best course ahead for Zakai.”
Crytzer wrote that the harms Zeigler argues he would suffer can be attended to with a future damages award.The judge likewise noted the “set variety of lineup spots” for each Department I basketball team and that” an injunction would run the risk of harming currently registered players committed to a university and existing high school seniors being hired.”The NCAA argued in its brief before the
hearing that Zeigler’s injunction request need to be denied because he is asking the court to make him the very first professional athlete in history to play a 5th season in Department I”as a matter of right. “During the hearing, the judge asked Zeigler’s lawyers to file a quick short answering whether Zeigler is an”intercollegiate professional athlete “as specified under state law and what legal standard uses to Zeigler’s claim under the Tennessee Trade Practices Act.