NCAA responds to Owen Heinecke's eligibility lawsuit ahead of hearing
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Former Oklahoma Sooners star linebacker Owen Heinecke has been fighting back hard against the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility in 2026. After his initial petition and appeal were both denied, Heinecke has taken legal action against the NCAA, filing a preliminary injunction request in Cleveland County Court.
Heinecke’s case will be heard on the morning of April 16th, one week before the 2026 NFL Draft, by judge Thad Balkman, an OU alum. Heinekce’s legal counsel includes former OU chief of staff Woody Glass, Tyler Ames, Mary Cooper, OU law aum Michael Lauderdale, and Andrew Richardson. The linebacker is hoping for a similar result to the one that Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss got, where he was granted the right to play in court, and then the court denied the NCAA’s appeal of their decision.
However, it looks like the NCAA is not going to go down without a fight. According to a report from The Oklahoma’s Colton Sulley, the NCAA has filed a response opposing Heinecke’s request for a preliminary injunction.
According to Sulley, “The NCAA argues Heinecke chose to attend Ohio State on a lacrosse scholarship despite numerous DI scholarship opportunities to play football for institutions outside the Power Four conferences. Heinecke received scholarship offers from Army and Navy along with Division II programs Northeastern State and UCO … Heinecke chose to attend Ohio State on a lacrosse scholarship without any guarantee he could try out for the football team, let alone obtain a roster spot, which was a circumstance expressly within his control.”
Sulley also reported that the NCAA is arguing that “Heinecke was not offered a spot on the Buckeyes’ football roster and following limited participation in lacrosse, he decided he would prefer to play football and transferred to OU.”
“Plaintiff did not lose the opportunity to play football due to circumstances beyond control because he decided to reject multiple scholarships to play football,” the NCAA said.
Conveniently, the NCAA’s opposition does not include anything about the 2022 season, which Heinecke missed all of, due to injury. The NCAA has regularly rewarded a sixth year of eligibility to players who miss the vast majority of a season because of an injury via medical hardship waivers, but it seems they are not willing to do the same for Heinecke.
On the other hand, Heinecke’s argument is simple. He has only played three years of college football, and wants to play his fourth at Oklahoma. After 15 total minutes over three games of lacrosse at Ohio State in 2021, he missed all of 2022. He’s played in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and wants to return to the Sooners to improve his draft stock for next spring.
After a breakout season last year at inside linebacker, Heinecke participated in the NFL combine and OU’s pro day to get ready for the NFL draft. With a little over two weeks until the draft kicks off, Heinecke should know his collegiate fate in a little over a week. He’s pretty much a lock to be selected, but he clearly wants to stay at OU for one more year.
Even if Heinecke is granted the opportunity to play, the NCAA will likely appeal Balkman’s decision, just like they did with Chambliss. However, the NCAA’s appeal was denied in Chambliss’ case, which would be the result that Heinecke and OU would be hoping for as well.
Heinceke has told the media that he knows he can’t afford to be playing football somewhere next season, and his situation has been complicated for months now. However, Oklahoma has stood behind Heinecke the whole way, and perhaps a favorable resolution is heading their way later this month. If not, Heinecke will head off to the pros, where he’ll look to continue his meteoric rise at the next level.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: NCAA files response to Owen Heinecke’s lawsuit in eligibility saga
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