CLEVELAND COUNTY –
Update: A judge ruled in favor of Owen Heinecke, granting an injunction.
**Original story****
OU linebacker Owen Heinecke is set to appear in court to argue for another year of eligibility against the NCAA during initial hearings Thursday morning.
Key Takeaways
- University of Oklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke is suing the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility.
- The NCAA argues his prior lacrosse appearances at Ohio State count against its five-year eligibility clock.
- Heinecke’s attorneys say COVID-19 disruptions and injury limited his early opportunities to play football.
- OU head coach Brent Venables and team officials are expected to testify during the hearing.
After arguing for an additional year of eligibility, Heinecke sued the NCAA to play in the University of Oklahoma football during the upcoming season.
Owen Heinecke takes the stand as his lawsuit against the NCAA is underway.
Credit: Andrew Hargrave
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The NCAA argues Heinecke lost a year when he chose to play lacrosse for 4 games before starting his college football career. All athletes are allowed five years to complete four seasons under the association’s guidelines.
The initial football career, Heinecke argues, was affected by the 2020 pandemic and other factors.
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Ohio State University, who attempted to recruit Heinecke, did not hold tryouts until the spring of 2022, as he was dealing with an injury out of high school in the fall of 2021.
“I’m someone who cares about the university,” Heinecke said at a press conference. “I’m just starting to reap the rewards, and it’s just another year to go at it. I hope they’ll see my case for that.”
Heinecke is set to plead his case late Thursday morning, with OU Football Coach Brent Venables and OU General Manager Jim Nagy to testify earlier in support of the linebacker.
Venables biggest message was that college football is developmental — and despite Heinecke having a shot at the NFL right now — without another year of development he could risk getting cut from an NFL roster.
Bishop Kelley High school coach JJ Tappana said “All these kids in college got relief, but all these kids in high school did not.”
Tappana talked a lot about how the COVID waiver for 5th year eligibility for existing athletes kept a lot of roster spots “frozen” and thus there was no pipeline for high school athletes.
This forced Owen to go to Ohio state and play lacrosse for a year instead of his dream of playing D1 football.
OU Athletic Compliance Director Anderson Brady Newville talked about a similar NCAA case involving Lyde at Providence College that he believes has set a precedent for Heinecke to get an extra year of eligibility.
He only testified for a few minutes before the court took recess.
