Former Spartans Jaxon Kohler and Tre Holloman are now eligible for another college season after a federal court judge in Colorado on Friday blocked the NCAA from enforcing its new age-based eligibility limits.
U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney granted a primary injunction, ruling that all college athletes who graduated high school in 2022 will be allowed one year of play in line with the NCAA’s new “five-for-five” eligibility rule. According to the new standard, student-athletes are granted five years of eligibility inside a continuous five-year window starting upon full-time college enrollment or turning 19.
For Michigan State men’s basketball’s second-leading scorer, Kohler, this could mean a return to MSU. Kohler signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Utah Jazz and played in the NBA Summer League. Holloman also played in the summer league, repping the Orlando Magic alongside former teammate Jase Richardson.
Carson Cooper, who also graduated this spring, will not be eligible for a fifth year after signing a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.
At the Moneyball Pro-Am, Holloman reflected on his three years at MSU and had high praise for MSU, East Lansing and Izzo.
“This is home for me,” Holloman told the Detroit Free Press on July 22. “I was here for three years. My daughter’s from Lansing, and I live in Lansing. So this is home.”
These 2026 college graduates have been named in multiple lawsuits across the country pushing for an extra year of eligibility. NCAA President Charlie Baker released a statement pushing for Congress to pass the Save College Sports Act in opposition to this ruling.
"Without targeted intervention from Congress, college sports cannot set nationwide rules everyone can play by and without Congress, failed professionals will continue to use college sports as a fallback option — robbing the next class of young athletes of college scholarships,” Baker's statement read. “Today's rulings and the chaos they bring to college sports are exactly why it's time to pass this bill."
For the 2026-27 season, MSU’s basketball roster is likely set, and an addition is unlikely but not improbable. There are 15 players on the roster for head coach Tom Izzo’s 32nd team, one transfer addition, four freshmen, three walk-ons and three returning starters.
