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Joseph Pinion and Derek Simpson, two Providence men's basketball players, made their first virtual court appearance on Monday, Oct. 19, before the Rhode Island division of the U.S. District Court. The hearing addressed their federal antitrust lawsuit and requests for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. Both players are pursuing eligibility for a fifth college season with Providence in 2026-27. Although they have been practicing with the team in preparation for the Nov. 2 season opener against Maine, neither has received clearance from the NCAA to compete.
During the 90-minute proceeding, Pinion and Simpson sat in suits at a conference room table in their attorneys' office, accompanied by counsel and Friars coach Bryan Hodgson. Judge Melissa R. DuBose declined to rule immediately but acknowledged the urgency of the timeline leading up to the game against the Black Bears. "There are folks whose lives are in limbo while this court makes a decision," DuBose said. "I'm sensitive to that. We'll come up with a ruling expeditiously."
Pinion is seeking a fifth year after previous stints at Arkansas, Arkansas State, and South Florida. He transferred from the Razorbacks to join Hodgson at Arkansas State in 2024-25 and followed him to South Florida for 2025-26. Simpson played two years at Rutgers from 2022-24 and two years at Saint Joseph's from 2024-26, earning all-conference honors in the Atlantic 10 last season.
Marc DeSisto, lead counsel for Pinion and Simpson of DeSisto Law, argued that the players should be allowed to compete during the preliminary injunction process. "I think they should be allowed to play while we go through the preliminary injunction process and sort out this chaos," DeSisto said. "I don't think they should be waiting and watching others play." DeSisto's initial filing cited the NCAA's unlawful implementation of a new eligibility rule, the 5-in-5 model, which was unanimously adopted and allows five calendar years and five seasons of eligibility with age-based restrictions when applicable. The new standard eliminated waivers and redshirt seasons and began with the recruiting Class of 2023. Pinion and Simpson are both members of the Class of 2022, and the NCAA contends their eligibility was exhausted before the June vote by the organization's cabinet.
Kate E. Gehl, lead counsel for the NCAA and a Milwaukee-based partner at Foley & Lardner, argued against the injunction. "What the plaintiffs are asking you to do today is to flip the status quo," Gehl said. "These players were ineligible at the end of the 2025-26 season. And they remain ineligible today."
Pinion and Simpson filed in federal court after several athletes failed to secure a fifth year through Rhode Island Superior Court. Providence men's soccer player Cameron Yriondo and University of Rhode Island football players A.J. Peña and Justin Carcel had their motions for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions denied in recent weeks. Judge Sarah Taft-Carter presided over both cases, and her rulings were frequently referenced during Monday's arguments. "She found there's been no breach here," Gehl said. "The bylaw doesn't apply to plaintiffs at all who had exhausted their eligibility under the 2025-26 manual. They weren't entitled to any eligibility under the new age-based framework."
DeSisto pointed to multiple ongoing proceedings in other states that could grant eligibility to men's basketball players in the Big East, Providence's conference home for nearly five decades, for the upcoming season. St. John's forward Keyshawn Hall was granted a temporary restraining order earlier this month, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order granting immediate eligibility to all fifth-year athletes, including Xavier forward Filip Borovicanin. The NCAA is appealing the Hall decision in New York and is suing DeWine in federal court for flouting its rules. "We respectfully submit those are all based on faulty legal reasoning," Gehl said. "The NCAA has appealed all of those decisions. The two state appellate courts that have really looked at this plain text argument we've been talking about have agreed with the NCAA — just as Judge Taft-Carter did."
Gehl also cited the opening arguments in Wisne v. NCAA, a Colorado case now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. A state judge granted a class-wide injunction for all fifth-year athletes in late July, which has since been stayed. A final ruling in Wisne could set a federal precedent that would supersede state-level conclusions. "To say that what the NCAA has done and interpreted that carves out this Class of 2022 is chaotic is putting it mildly," DeSisto said. "There are multiple suits across the nation. It mandates that judges have to decide on individuals on a case-by-case basis. I can just tell you, and the court knows — what that results in is inconsistent findings."
The Friars currently have 13 players on their roster after Friday's departure of Dink Pate, who returned to professional basketball, opened another spot. DeSisto said filling any vacancies with Pinion and Simpson would not displace any currently eligible student-athletes hoping to play at Providence. Gehl asserted the Friars might have held those places open for two players not currently eligible and denied potential additions from being recruited. "To allow these players to play when they're ineligible — it does cause harm," Gehl said. "We've heard here that two roster spots have been reserved for these two players even knowing that they're ineligible under the current rules unless they can get a court to come in and second guess that decision."
This is Simpson's third involvement in a lawsuit seeking eligibility for the upcoming season. He was part of a North Carolina filing that was voluntarily dismissed and, Gehl said, testified in a preliminary injunction filing in Pennsylvania that a judge ruled against last month. "He's trying again in front of this court to see if he can get a different result," Gehl said. "Yes, we say it again — that is blatant forum shopping. It should be a fact this court considers in issuance of any injunction here."
Judge DuBose was a first-year undergraduate student when Providence made the second of its two men's basketball Final Four appearances in 1987. She earned a degree in political science in 1990 before embarking on a distinguished legal career. DuBose lightheartedly referenced her time as a student with the Friars before turning to the matter at hand. "It's been quite a distance between my days being there on campus," DuBose said. "Both parties agreed there was no reason for me to recuse. I don't believe I would have any issue with being impartial."
Originally reported by yahoo.