A South Carolina court has ruled in favor of Clemson wide receiver Tristan Smith, granting him a temporary injunction that will allow him to compete for another season after the NCAA rejected his request for extended eligibility.
The 6-foot-5, 205-pound senior filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in January following their decision to deny his waiver application for a fifth year of competition.
In her decision, Judge Jessica A. Salvini from South Carolina’s 13th Judicial Circuit highlighted that the NCAA had approved similar requests from other players who previously competed at junior colleges.
The judge referenced wide receiver Malik Benson as an example, noting he also played two years of junior college football and was awarded an additional season to compete at Oregon in 2025.
“The only material distinction the Court can identify between Mr. Benson’s case, and the instant matter is that Mr. Smith’s final Division I season falls in 2025-26 rather than 2024-25,” Salvini wrote.
The NCAA had previously provided blanket eligibility extensions to former junior college players in the 2024-25 academic year following a successful legal challenge by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.
Smith’s legal representative, Darren Heitner, celebrated the victory on social media platform X, stating: “Big win for our client. … The NCAA’s arbitrary application of its Five-Year Rule didn’t hold up. Justice for Tristan!”
The player himself responded to the news on Instagram, writing: “The Marathon continues. I’m Back.”
Smith’s collegiate career included two seasons at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas during 2022 and 2023, followed by a year at FCS school Southeast Missouri State in 2024 before transferring to Clemson in 2025. During his most recent season with the Tigers, he recorded 24 receptions for 239 yards and one touchdown across 13 games.
