Division III Athletes Sue NCAA Over Scholarship Ban

The authorized struggle over paying school athletes simply reached the NCAA’s largest division. Three present and former Division III athletes sued the NCAA on October 23, 2026. They argue the ban on athletic scholarships at greater than 400 faculties is illegitimate value fixing underneath federal antitrust regulation.

The case, Printz v. Nationwide Collegiate Athletic Affiliation (2:26-cv-12448), seeks damages for athletes who competed in Division III since October 21, 2022. It additionally asks the courtroom to cease the NCAA from implementing the ban.

About 210,000 athletes compete in Division III annually, based on the NCAA (PDF File). None of them can obtain an athletic scholarship immediately.

What Does The Division III Lawsuit Declare?

The lawsuit claims Division III faculties have agreed to not compete on value for athletes. Its goal is NCAA Division III Bylaw 15.01.3, which says a college “shall not award monetary assist to any pupil on the idea of athletics management, capability, participation or efficiency.” Division III athletes can nonetheless obtain benefit assist and need-based grants on the identical phrases as different college students.

“The NCAA has engaged in an ongoing conspiracy to repair the value of Division III athletic labor at zero by prohibiting each member of Division III, the NCAA’s largest division at greater than 400 faculties, from providing a single penny of athletic scholarship,” the grievance states.

Jackson Hale, the primary named plaintiff, is a senior defensive again at Pacific Lutheran College. Connor Printz performed basketball from 2020 to 2024 at Claremont McKenna School, which ranks among the many costliest faculties within the nation. Chris Jennings swam and performed lacrosse on the College of Lynchburg from 2019 to 2023.

Lynchburg reached a negotiated decision with the NCAA in January over $155,325 in improper assist to athletes in 2022-23. The swimsuit doesn’t say whether or not Jennings obtained any of that cash. Division III guidelines let faculties give athletes benefit scholarships solely on the identical phrases as different college students.

Why Connor Printz Says The Ban Value Him

Printz says the ban pushed him off the group. He stop basketball early within the 2023-24 season to give attention to his social media enterprise, and he took out substantial pupil loans to cowl practically $80,000 in tuition, room and board that 12 months.

“With even only a significant partial scholarship, Printz would have continued taking part in by his senior season as a result of his basketball labor would have served to cowl part of the price of his schooling,” the grievance states.

The irony sits on the middle of the case. Printz says he earned as much as $50,000 in endorsement offers with Reebok, Clif Bar and different manufacturers whereas taking part in, and Hale additionally obtained NIL cash. Beneath present guidelines, a model pays a Division III athlete, however the athlete’s personal faculty can’t put a greenback towards tuition for enjoying.

How Does This Case Join To NIL And The Home Settlement?

The case is constructed on the Supreme Court docket’s 2021 ruling in NCAA v. Alston. The unanimous choice held that NCAA limits on athlete advantages face odd antitrust evaluation. That ruling opened the door to NIL offers and, later, the Home settlement that lets Division I faculties pay athletes straight.

The cash in school sports activities has been rising ever since. School Sports activities Fee information exhibits faculties paid 34,915 athletes about $1.77 billion within the first 12 months of income sharing. That works out to about $50,700 every.

The cap was $20.5 million per faculty for 2025-26, and the Senate voted 77-22 in September to put in writing it into federal regulation by the Shield School Sports activities Act.

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The plaintiffs argue Division III can’t maintain a zero-dollar rule whereas the remainder of school sports activities pays. “The Division III prohibition on athletic assist is undeniably a multi-conference settlement in Alston’s personal taxonomy,” the grievance states. The case additionally lands within the Ninth Circuit, which dealt with each O’Bannon and Alston. That very same courtroom circuit is who allowed faculties to pay athletes hundreds of thousands straight.

The NCAA has historical past on its facet too. A federal courtroom in Indiana dismissed comparable Division III claims in Rock v. NCAA in 2013, discovering the scholarship ban presumptively pro-competitive. Nonetheless, that ruling got here eight years earlier than Alston and earlier than any athlete might legally signal an endorsement deal.

What This Means For Households Paying For Division III

Nothing modifications for present recruits or this 12 months’s monetary assist gives. Division III faculties nonetheless construct packages from need-based grants and institutional benefit awards, and plenty of Division III faculties are non-public faculties that low cost tuition closely.

Mark Kantrowitz’s evaluation of 2015-16 federal information discovered 36% of scholars at non-public nonprofit faculties obtained merit-only institutional grants, averaging $12,060.

If the plaintiffs win, Division III faculties could be allowed to supply athletic assist, however not required to. Faculties must fund that assist from budgets that already sometimes lose cash, and federal auditors discovered 94% of Division I packages spent greater than they earned in 2023-24.

A courtroom might additionally award damages to former athletes if a category is licensed, although that consequence is years away.

What Occurs Subsequent In Printz V. NCAA?

The NCAA’s subsequent transfer is its formal response to the courtroom submitting, which we doubtless gained’t see for weeks or months.

A movement to dismiss is the stage the place the Rock claims failed, so the primary ruling will present whether or not Alston modified the mathematics. The plaintiffs need triple damages underneath the Clayton Act, which might make this case price billions if all Division III athletes are concerned. That compares with the $1.77 billion Division I faculties paid athletes in a full 12 months of income sharing.

It’s necessary to keep in mind that courtroom instances like this sometimes take years to resolve. The Home v. NCAA case took nearly 5 years, and it led to a settlement settlement, not a trial. If Pritz follows the identical path, athletes could not see any decision till round 2031.

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