Story by
NCAA is fighting Cortez Braham in court. He's fighting to get Memphis football to the CFP
- Story by
- NCAA is fighting Cortez Braham in court. He's fighting to get Memphis football to the CFP
In the July legal decision that allowed Cortez Braham to continue his college football career , the district judge wrote that Braham would suffer "irreparable harm" if he was not granted a preliminary injunction that essentially granted him a seventh year of eligibility.
A few months later, as Memphis football plows forward on a path it hopes will end in the College Football Playoff, that term — "irreparable harm" — is probably a good approximation of what the Tigers would endure if they didn't have Braham.
Advertisement
"He's a really good wide receiver," Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said after Braham had the game-winning touchdown catch in Memphis' win over USF on Oct. 25 .
The Tigers (7-1, 3-1 American) entered the 2025 season with plenty of question marks about a roster that had more than 70 new players. Perhaps the biggest was at receiver, where they had amassed a group of transfers and young players who had achieved very little at the FBS level.
Silverfield got a lifeline, then, when Braham was granted the preliminary injunction and committed to the Tigers a week later. Though he joined the team just two weeks before the Aug. 30 season opener, Braham quickly established himself as the go-to receiver for a team that desperately needed exactly that.
The NCAA is appealing the decision that granted Braham the chance to play. The case is ongoing, even as Braham tries to prepare for the final four games of the season, including Memphis' next test, at Rice on Oct. 31 (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).
Advertisement
"I try not to think about it," he said. "But it's something I am dealing with. So I can't just put in on the back burner. Just got to keep your head down, just go straight through it."
Why Cortez Braham spent three years in junior college
It's easy to find the details about Braham's post-high school athletic career. It's spelled out through the documents in Braham v. NCAA. It goes like this:
Three years at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas (the third of which was because his 2.4 GPA wasn't high enough for him to transfer to West Virginia after his second year), then two years at West Virginia and one year at Nevada .
Advertisement
There's a lot more when you go into the details, of course, even if it isn't necessarily relevant to the courts.
Braham moved to Blythewood, South Carolina, from the Baltimore area to live with his grandmother. He played high school football at Westwood High School, where he was teammates with future NFL second-round pick Cam Smith. That meant plenty of exposure and some recruiting interest, but that went away after he got into a verbal altercation at school during his senior year and got expelled.
For the first time, he thought his football career was over.
Then he got a call from Dustin Curtis, Westwood's football coach. There was an opportunity for him at Hutchinson Community College. Braham didn't even know what junior college was.
Advertisement
He put his head down and worked.
"I thought he did a pretty good job of it," Hutchinson coach Drew Dallas said. "It was never a deal where he was looking down at being here. He was always just trying to get better and develop. When guys can do that at this level, that's one of the most important things. Their end destination doesn't necessarily change. Just the process in getting there is a little bit longer."
Between his freshman and sophomore years, Dallas watched Braham put on weight and develop as a well-rounded receiver. The jump-ball ability that Memphis fans have seen firsthand was always there, but the route-running, blocking and versatility came with time. After two years and more than 1,100 yards receiving, he committed to West Virginia. But his GPA didn't meet the 2.5 threshold.
For the second time, Braham thought his career was over.
Advertisement
Instead, he went back to Hutchinson, didn't play football and worked on his grades. He was in Morgantown a year later. Ultimately, though, he didn't play much during his two seasons at West Virginia and redshirted in 2023 after playing in only four games.
He transferred to Nevada, where he caught 56 passes for 724 yards and four touchdowns (all of which came from quarterback Brendon Lewis , who's now his teammate again with Memphis).
And then, for the third time, he thought his career was over.
Advertisement
What Cortez Braham has meant to Memphis football
Again, the story plays out in the legal filings — Braham asked Nevada to submit a request on his behalf for an NCAA waiver that would give him another year of eligibility. The school refused, so Braham sued the NCAA.
"It was a lot," Braham said. "It was a scramble trying to find somebody to at least help, to be in my corner, things like that. But I've got a very good support system, my agent, things like that. And we got it done. And I'm excited, I'm grateful for it."
While he waited for a resolution, he had to work out on his own. He knew he was going to transfer if he got another year of eligibility, and he had been in contact with Memphis for a while. It took him only a week to choose Memphis over UCLA after the ruling came down.
Advertisement
He arrived at Memphis and had two weeks to learn the playbook. That seems daunting, but as Braham puts it — "I've been in college for like seven years."
In other words, he's been there, done that.
He started the season as a backup, but his role has grown exponentially. He had 102 yards against Arkansas , then 127 a week later against FAU. His 6-foot-2, 197-pound frame and elite ball skills make him a tough cover, especially in one-on-one situations.
"In my whole career, of all the football players I've coached, if I had to throw one fade route, to one kid, to win a game, it would be him 100 times in a row," said Curtis, Braham's coach at Westwood.
Advertisement
It's only fitting, then, that with the game on the line on Oct. 25, Lewis threw a fade route to Braham in the corner of the end zone. It was also the exact same spot where Braham made the play of Memphis' season with a one-handed touchdown catch against Tulsa.
He's the team's undisputed top receiver now, and he's third in the American Conference with 566 receiving yards. There are no guarantees in sports, but if it's a high-leverage situation for Memphis? The ball's probably going to No. 4.
"He's a dog," Lewis said. "And he always wants the ball."
Advertisement
And now, even as his eligibility case rolls on — the NCAA filed a reply brief in the appeals process on Oct. 27, and oral arguments are ahead — Braham is doing something familiar. He's trying to focus on blocking out every possible distraction, all of the things he can't control. Even if the future of college sports, indirectly and directly, are at stake.
"I feel like it hasn't really hit me on that aspect," he said. "I just take it day by day and things like that. I'm hoping that it does help other college athletes in my situation. Because I have friends and things like that that's going through the same things. I'm hoping that it does help a lot and it does change. But I just keep my head down, just keep working."
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Cortez Braham balances NCAA eligibility court case, Memphis football
