The NCAA is currently embroiled in multiple class action lawsuits, most notable among them House v. NCAA, an anti-trust suit that could reshape the landscape of college sports if a proposed settlement is approved.
Compensation for student-athletes has been a major point of emphasis in many of the suits leveled against the NCAA, but second to that issue have been eligibility issues.
Junior college transfers have, at times, been successful in securing additional years of eligibility at the Division 1 level with lawsuits. The most high-profile example is Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.
A new kind of bid at additional eligibility has now been made by Tennessee basketball’s Zakai Zeigler.
Zakai Zeigler lawsuit
Zeigler signed with Tennessee out of high school in 2021 and proceeded to play immediately and often for the Volunteers over the past four years. He didn’t redshirt, which is the crux of his issue with the NCAA.
Zeigler is seeking a fifth year of eligibility while he pursues a graduate degree at Tennessee. He believes he is being “arbitrarily barred from doing so by an NCAA rule that limits athletes to participating in only four seasons of intercollegiate competition within the five-year window.”
Zeigler wants five years of eligibility across that five-year window.
Zakai Zeigler’s case against the NCAA
Zeigler’s argument boils down to a few major points:
- The NCAA’s redshirt system is flawed and skewed in favor of the schools.
- Because of that, NCAA programs essentially get to select which players get to benefit the most from NIL.
- Because Zeigler wasn’t redshirted as a freshman, he will miss out on an additional year of NIL compensation that is available to other student-athletes.
Redshirts allow NCAA programs to “largely control who gets access to the fifth year of eligibility, strategically ‘banking’ eligibility for some athletes while denying it to others, without consideration, based purely on institutional preference and benefit,” Zeigler’s complaint reads.
The fifth year of student-athletes collegiate careers has proven to be the most lucrative, based on projections from Spyre Sports Group.
Zeigler, who earned around $150,000 his freshman season, has had his NIL compensation grow each year. He would be in line to make around $2 million to $4 million next year if he was able to compete a fifth year.
“This valuation reflects the market value of an upperclassman with a proven performance record and high visibility, especially in a high-profile conference like the SEC,” the complaint reads.
By not being redshirted his freshman season, Zeigler argues that he is being prevented from collecting further NIL compensation that other student-athletes receive.
Zeigler isn’t trying to undo the NCAA’s five-year rule for student-athlete eligibility. Rather, the complaint states, he is arguing that there is no ”academic progress justification" to limiting student-athletes to only four year of eligibility over the five-year period. He says the five-year window in college sports should mean five years of eligibility.
“Indeed, the fact that the NCAA’s eligibility window is five years long demonstrates that allowing an athlete to play in each of the five years cannot conflict with any purported academic or other purpose the NCAA might claim supports the Four-Seasons Rule,” his complaint states.
It continues, “... The redshirt system also reveals that the Four-Seasons Rule lacks legitimate procompetitive justifications. The inconsistency exposes the pretextual nature of the NCAA’s claims: the Four-Seasons Rule cannot be about preserving amateurism, as both redshirt and non-redshirt fifth-year athletes exist within the same eligibility window. It cannot be about academic progress, as graduated athletes remain excluded. And it cannot be about competitive balance, as schools with greater resources can strategically redshirt more athletes. ... Instead, the redshirt system demonstrates that the Four-Seasons Rule functions primarily as a market control mechanism. It allows institutions to strategically manipulate the eligibility window to their advantage, extracting maximum value from athletes while denying those same athletes the opportunity to realize their own market value when it peaks.”
Zeigler, who holds the record for most assists (747) and most steals (251) in Tennessee basketball history and was named the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC, is seeking a jury trial and a ruling finding that the NCAA’s four-seasons rule violates both the Sherman Act and the Tennessee Trade Practice Act.
He also wants a “preliminary and permanent injunction” that will enable him to play during the upcoming 2025-26 college basketball season. If he were to win his lawsuit, it could dramatically alter the college athletics landscape.