DeJuan Clayton is a 26-year-old watch for the Manhattan College Jaspers, and owing to a court ruling last Friday against the NCAA, he is currently playing in his ninth season of college basketball.
Since Clayton’s primary season ended in 2016, when Barack Obama was still in office, it is now 2024, so it’s important to clarify his unique background.
In response to NCAA Bylaw 12.8, which typically limits college athletes ‘ eligibility to five years and four seasons, Clayton’s eligibility clock has effectively been extended three times ( four times, including the court ruling ).
He started at Coppin State, and he was given a hardship exemption after suffering an injury that limited him to six games during his freshman season. With the waiver, Clayton graduated from Coppin State in 2020 with a degree in social science, but the Eagles were able to play a fifth season ( his injury-stricken sophomore season did n’t” count” for the purposes of his four-season eligibility cap ). He grew another time as a result of the NCAA’s Covid- 19 pandemic’s extension of eligibility. Clayton joined Hartford as a graduate student for the 2021-2022 season, but he missed the Hawks by playing just two games as a result of an injury. As a result, he received a clinical suffering waiver.

Then, for the 2022- 23 season, Clayton enrolled as a graduate student at Cal, but things did n’t go as planned. Playing in only nine games, he suffered hamstring pushes and rounds of nausea. Worse still, Clayton claims that the instructors pressured him to play hurt, also nicknaming him” Milkshake” because he was too soft. To alleviate the suffering he claims he suffered, Clayton sought out mental health care.
For the 2023-2024 educational season, Clayton enrolled at Manhattan, but he was prohibited from playing in violation of NCAA Bylaw 12.8. Therefore, Clayton needed another waiver from the NCAA to sing in Manhattan. When an athlete experiences an inadequacy as a result of an injury or illness, the NCAA may give a waiver under NCAA Bylaw 12.8.4. The NCAA was n’t persuaded, but Clayton did include health records. The NCAA found a lack of adequate medical evidence to refute his suffering appeal in its rejection of Clayton’s claim that he was “incapacitated in a season-ending nature.”
Clayton filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on February 1st, asking for an injunction to stop it from enforcing its enrollment requirements. According to Clayton’s lead attorney, Robert Boland of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, being denied “opportunities to display his baseball capabilities for professional sports teams around the world,” Boland of Shumaker, Loop & said Clayton would suffer irreparable damage.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound watch is not a prospect in the NBA because he is already older than NBA veterans like Jayson Tatum and Luka Doni. His best school year was a few years back at Coppin State, when he averaged 15 points and five assists per game. However, Clayton might have opportunities to work in the G League or abroad.
Clayton argued that the NCAA treated him differently than other people, including UNC large receiver Devontez Walker, who just received either suffering discounts or registration extensions. The NCAA objected, claiming that Clayton spent the second half of his time at Cal, in contrast to those other people at their universities.

Judge Kim Adair Wilson came to the conclusion that Clayton has demonstrated enough to warrant a preliminary order that allows him to play right away in her 17-page purchase. Wilson emphasized the numerous ways that Clayton could suffer irreparable damage, which is harm that money damages hardly later correct. She cited the potential “detrimental remaining effect” of a rejection of eligibility on his professional basketball prospects and Nonexistent opportunities. Additionally, Clayton claimed that a possible reduction of an athletic scholarship may hinder his ability to earn a master’s degree.
In the final match of last Friday’s match against the Marist Red Foxes, Clayton played 10 days for the Jaspers, scoring nine points in a 57-49 loss. As Clayton’s protracted college basketball career draws to an end, Manhattan (5-20 ) only has four games left on its schedule, plus the MAAC tournament.
Lately, the NCAA has had a difficult stretch of time playing in jury. A federal judge overruled the NCAA’s NIL-recruitment ban next Friday, and a federal judge overrode it a few months ago. Although these cases involve various laws and circumstances, they all share a character: judges rejecting NCAA claims that limit the opportunities for athletes.