Last Friday, a U.S. District Court Judge namedCharlotte Sweeney granted a class-wide preliminary injunction that forced the NCAA to declare eligibility for every high school Class of 2022 athlete whose eligibility ran out this spring.
In other words, if the injuction goes through, athletes who fall into this category would be granted another year of eligibility and therefore return to college for one more season, even if they had graduated.
It would seem that Las Vegas Aces rookie Justine Pissott falls into this category, which came to light when popular women's college basketball account @SkimMilkey replied to a recent update regarding the case on Monday night and wrote, "Justine Pissott is a plaintiff in this case for eligibility. / She played in a WNBA game...today. / If she becomes eligible for this upcoming season, we have totally lost the plot."
However, Pissott quickly shut this down by commenting on the post and writing, "This is false".
It's worth noting that Pissott is probably calling the claim that she's a plaintiff in the case "false" rather than disputing the potential implications of the claim itself.
If the injunction is granted, Pissott wouldn't need to be a plaintiff in the actual case to be granted this extra year of eligibility. And there's currently no rule that would keep her from potentially returning to college, despite already having played in the WNBA.
The injunction is still a long ways away from being granted, as the NCAA is strongly opposed to it and will continue to fight it as much as possible. So a lot can change between this current standing and how the case ends up.
Regardless, it appears that Pissott isn't interested in a return to college. This was shown by an X post she made on Tuesday morning that read, "I'm exactly where I belong. God is so good".
The Indiana Fever selected Pissott (who played college basketball at Vanderbilt) with the No. 25 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. She then signed a player development contract with the Fever before the Aces extended an offer sheet to her last month , which would have given her a standard contract and moved her to Las Vegas ' regular roster.
The Fever didn't counter this offer, which sent Pissott to Las Vegas. And she thrived in her debut game, scoring 19 points in just 10 minutes of action in the Aces' dominant victory against the Phoenix Mercury on July 11. The five made three-pointers Pissott had in the game were the most a player has ever made in their WNBA debut.
Pissott has only scored eight total points in four appearances since that game.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/womens-fastbreak as Aces Rookie Justine Pissott Disputes 'False' NCAA Five-Year Eligibility Case Claim .
