On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte Sweeney granted a class-wide preliminary injunction in Colorado that made the NCAA declare eligibility for every athlete from the high school Class of 2022 who ran out of eligibility this spring.
This included Lakers rookie Robbie Avila, who is perhaps better known by his nickname “Cream Abdul-Jabbar” because of his height and the glasses he wears on the court. And, as a result, it seemed that Avila could decide to return to college if he wanted.
Soon after, it was reported that Avila was “waiting to see what his options are” after being granted this fifth year of eligibility before deciding whether to return to college or keep playing professionally.
There has now been some clarity on what Avila’s options might look like — and he probably isn’t going to like it.
On Sunday, Sweeney issued a clarification that said her injunction did not block NCAA transfer rules. Therefore, any player who receives and then decides to exercise this extra year wouldn’t be able to transfer and would have to play for their former teams.
In other words, if Avila were to return to college, he would have to go back to Saint Louis. Before this clarification, the assumption was that Avila would be able to enter the transfer portal and essentially get to pick which school he’d join, but it’s clear that this is no longer the case.
This is a harsh reality for check for Avila. While it’s unclear whether he’d be interested in going back to Saint Louis, the prospect of joining a national powerhouse and competing for a national championship surely would’ve been a reason he’d want to go back to college.
There could still be more changes regarding this injunction. But for now, it seems that Avila is more likely to stay with the Lakers then he was before this clarification.
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