Unexpected ruling for Rylan Griffen is a major problem for Bucky Ball if it doesn’t get fixed

Texas A&M guard Rylan Griffen did not receive the injunction for which he was appealing in yesterday’s hearing, meaning— now that his TRO has expired— he is currently ineligible for Texas A&M basketball. This is not the end of the road for Griffen, but it has thrown a major monkey wrench into the works for this Texas A&M basketball team.

Most of these hearings, with a few exceptions, have been all but complete layups for the players who have been searching for injunctions. The NCAA has suffered legal defeat after legal defeat, with only the most egregious cases going against the players, so with Griffen’s pretty reasonable case, most Aggie fans thought he’d be a shoo-in to be on the team for the first game.

However, the judge didn’t see it that way. He ended up ruling in favor of the NCAA, who was arguing that this case was not under the proper jurisdiction— essentially, they were asking for it to be dismissed from this court, which was what happened.

Texas A&M’s top returning guard Rylan Griffen currently ineligible after surprising ruling in court case

Again, though, that doesn’t mean that Griffen is done for when it comes to this season— just that there’s going to be more of a headache to get him going. He can bring a similar complaint in a different jurisdiction and eventually be granted an injunction, which is likely what his legal team will do, but there is a timeline associated with that that is not ideal for this basketball team.

To regain eligibility and avoid penalties, Griffen will have to get another TRO at the very least, with a preliminary injunction to follow (what he was seeking in this case). Right now, though, he cannot practice or play with this Texas A&M basketball team, which is definitely a blow given his skill set.

Of course, the Aggies have a bit of a runway to get things ramped up for this season— their first power opponent doesn’t come until game four, when they host Oklahoma State. If Griffen isn’t out there against Northern Kentucky, Alabama State, or UL-Monroe, it won’t be that big of a deal.

The other side of that argument is that this would be valuable time to get back into the swing of in-game action for a guy like Griffen. He’ll obviously be doing his best to stay ready for this Aggie team, but there’s no replacement for actually playing in games— even if those games are against low-level competition like this.

Hopefully, this all gets resolved soon and Aggie fans can look back on this episode as a minor hiccup in what turned into a majorly successful season for A&M in general and Griffen in particular. For now, though, the further uncertainty surrounding his status will be an albatross around the neck of this program until things get resolved— and with the way the legal system is moving, there’s no telling exactly how long that timeline is going to be for Griffen.

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