Earlier this month, it became clear that Notre Dame might have a major roster decision to make because of the huge number of lawsuits being filed to gain more eligibility in college sports.
On Wednesday, the question of adding Junior Tuihalamaka became a reality when the filing he was part of was granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), allowing him to return for a fifth year. The TRO also allowed the players involved to enter the Transfer Portal (though it's unclear how the judge has the power to do that), so the former ND defender could go elsewhere instead.
Notre Dame football faces Junior Tuihalamaka decision after Louisiana TRO grants fifth year
Per the signed order in Louisiana, the situation involving Tuihalamaka and Notre Dame is the best of all 16 players involved in the suit because he hasn't signed with an NFL team. This ruling is easily the worst of any TRO granted to players seeking a fifth year of eligibility, precisely because it nukes what appears to be the last guardrail against complete and total chaos in the NCAA.
It's been an accepted notion that once a player declares for the NFL and then signs a contract with a team, his college playing days are officially over. Several of the players involved in this TRO are now saying they don't agree that's the rule. It's not even an unspoken rule; it's a rule that's been in existence in the NCAA for quite a while now.
If Notre Dame decides to welcome its former linebacker back on the roster just a few weeks before the season starts, Marcus Freeman and his program can at least say they aren't blowing up one of the few rules everyone can agree on.
The decision to file a separate lawsuit follows the preliminary class-wide injunction in the U.S. District Court of Colorado granted to the class of 2022 recruits last month. The order allows former Class of 2022 recruits who exhausted their fourth season of college eligibility this spring to play a fifth season in 2026-27. The Colorado injunction did not allow players to enter the portal.
That Junior Tuihalamaka joined this other Louisiana filing could indicate that he's already been told Notre Dame doesn't have a spot for him anymore. Of course, it's also possible, considering the entire point of this is to make as much NIL money as a player can, that the defender simply knows he might get more money and playing time somewhere else.
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