Clemson WR Tristan Smith got his day in court after a six-month legal battle with the NCAA over his fifth year of eligibility. Here's what the judge decided.
Clemson wide receiver Tristan Smith has finally been granted a fifth year of eligibility after fighting against the NCAA for months. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Imageswide receiver Tristan Smith received a temporary injunction against the NCAA from Judge Jessica A. Salvini of South Carolina's 13th Judicial Circuit, making him eligible to play his fifth year in 2026-27.
Following the ruling, the former junior college standout took to Instagram to make a post that was captioned, "The Marathon continues. I'm back.
" This entire situation started over six months ago, in November, when the NCAA denied Smith's individual waiver to play an extra year.on January 21, with lawyer Alan Wilmot later stating, "The crux of our case is simply the arbitrary application of this waiver and why is not being afforded the same relief as other individual athletes have been afforded in the past.
" What Wilmot is pointing to by saying this is that last year, the Division I Board of Directors approved a waiver, which was prompted by a lawsuit from formerMalik Benson — who was also represented by Heitner while trying to fight for an extra year — and just about every other player looking for an additional year during the 2024-25 season. However, it was not granted to players who graduated in 2025-26, like Smith.
"A year ago, we came close to taking legal action against the NCAA to secure an additional year of eligibility for Malik Benson," Heitner said in January. "Now, Benson is battling for a spot in the national championship with Oregon following an outstanding season. " Initially, Smith filed a request for a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, which Salvini later denied. But, like Smith's legal team, she criticized the way the NCAA had handled the case.
"The NCAA's denial appears arbitrary and capricious, consistent with judicial findings in other districts," Salvini said. "This order is necessary because of the immediate need to allow Mr. Smith to join his team for practices and roster planning, to prevent irreparable harm to his college and professional football career, and to allow him to effectuate his NIL and revenue-sharing opportunities. " This rejection ultimately caused Smith and his team to file for a temporary injunction.
The hearing, originally tentatively set for February 3, was first postponed to March 31, During the months of waiting, Smith found reason for optimism in similar cases: a March injunction had cleared the way for) Brendan Sorsby was granted eligibility by a judge on Monday after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA over sports betting issues, including betting on the Hoosiers frequently back in 2022 when he was still apart of the team. Both rulings sparked controversy, but the Sorsby case drew far more backlash, with most observers feeling it was, to put it nicely, ridiculous.
That leads us to this past Monday, when Smith finally got his day in court. However, there was no ruling that morning, as Salvini said she would have her decision "by the end of the week.
" It took her just four days to reach a conclusion, and, as mentioned, it ended up being in Smith's favor. Southeast Missouri State ANGELO FELIBERTY Angelo Feliberty is a Sports Communication major who got his start with The Tiger newspaper at Clemson University starting as a contributor and working his way up to senior reporter covering multiple sports for the Clemson Tigers. A native of Myrtle Beach, S.C.
, Feliberty was a three-year letterman in track at Myrtle Beach High School.
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