MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean was granted a preliminary injunction on Thursday that would allow him to maintain his college eligibility and continue playing for the Big Ten’s Badgers this fall.
U.S. District Judge William Conley issued his ruling two days after Fourqurean argued at a hearing that the two seasons he played at NCAA Division II program Grand Valley State shouldn’t count against his college eligibility. Wisconsin is a Division I program.
The judge ruled the night before the Friday deadline that Fourqurean faced for opting out of consideration for the NFL draft. Fourqurean took his case to court last week after the NCAA denied Wisconsin’s request for a waiver granting him another year of eligibility.
Fourqurean had argued the NCAA is violating federal antitrust law by not granting him a waiver and by limiting his economic opportunities to receive name, image and likeness benefits because of his prior attendance at a Division II school.
Conley wrote that he granted the injunction because Fourqurean’s claim was “likely to succeed” and that he “would suffer irreparable injury without injunctive relief.”