Ohio Gov Mike DeWine defies NCAA eligibility rule with executive order for student-athletes

Ohio Gov.

Mike DeWine signed an executive order Tuesday allowing colleges and universities in the state to decide whether athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 can compete for a fifth season.

The order challenges a new NCAA eligibility rule that excludes those athletes.

"When the rules change, fairness has to remain part of the equation," DeWine, a Republican, said in a statement.

"We want Ohio’s student-athletes to have the same opportunity as student-athletes in other states." Under DeWine’s order, Ohio colleges and universities may allow eligible athletes to compete despite the NCAA’s position that those who have already played four seasons cannot receive another year of eligibility.

In a statement exclusively obtained by OutKick, Ryan Downtown, an attorney representing a group of athletes in a key eligibility case pending in an Ohio court, said: "We are thankful that Gov.

DeWine took action to ensure that all student-athletes in Ohio are treated equitably with their peers.

Hopefully, the NCAA will stop its misguided quest to deny the Class of 2022 the same fifth year offered to everyone else.

If not, we hope other governors will follow suit." Sources told OutKick’s Trey Wallace Tuesday night that other governors could "follow suit" with their own versions of similar orders as soon as next week.

NCAA WINS TENTH CIRCUIT 'STAY', BUT FACES MORE ELIGIBILITY LAWSUITS FROM 2022 CLASS ATHLETES IN CHAOTIC TIME The NCAA pushed back against DeWine’s order Tuesday.

In a memo to the organization’s member schools, which was also obtained by OutKick, NCAA President Charlie Baker said DeWine "cannot legislate NCAA eligibility rules." "One elected official seeking to make their own rules for their own schools’ advantage is a terrible way to run athletic competitions," Baker wrote.

He also urged Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act , a sweeping bill that aims to establish guardrails for how colleges compensate athletes and what those athletes can challenge in court.

Baker added, "This is precisely why Congress must pass the PCSA as soon as possible." Baker’s statement continued: "And not only did NCAA members vote unanimously to implement the age-based eligibility change in this way, the Ohio Court of Appeals just recently agreed with that decision.

"The Ohio Court of Appeals isn’t alone in siding with the NCAA on this issue.