The latest court date for MJ Collins
and Class of 2022 players trying to play in Ohio may be the final nail in the coffin for their chances to play this coming season.
The Ohio Court of Appeals denied the group's appeal and left few paths for players like Collins to get their eligibility again after briefly having it in the summer. The case now goes back to trial court, with possibility it gets expedited as the season looms a month away.
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"Based on the foregoing, we hold that the trial court abused its discretion in granting the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction," A court document stated. "Our decision is based on the record that was presented to the trial court at this stage of the proceedings. The parties remain free to introduce additional evidence and supplement the record at a hearing on the merits. We sustain the assignment of error, reverse the trial court's judgment, and remand this cause for further proceedings."
Collins suited up for the Bearcats in exhibitions against Canadian teams down in the Bahamas last month.
Cincinnati general manager Corey Evans
spoke about the issue on Bearcat Blitz last month. Alas, it looks like UC is sticking firm at 14 players on its roster for right now, as fellow fifth-year star Javontae Campbell remains eligible as of this writing.
"Our job is to do what's best for Cincinnati basketball and the university as a whole, and also the city in the most ethical manner possible," Evans said on our show in late August
. "And when you have a player like MJ that we knew about, that coach (Calhoun) coached, and his staff, that's how you get better. So how do you handle this entire situation of not knowing? We're hopeful. We're patiently optimistic, but we have no idea.
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"In the grand scheme of things, I'm really excited about the 13 players we have without MJ. I think MJ helps us get better and be better for sure. We wouldn't have taken him if we didn't believe that. But also, our job is to be present and control the controllables. And right now, what we can control is getting our guys better, having them present, and creating that chemistry and that bond that could help us be where we want to be in March."
He would've been one of the top-50 players in the country this year and probably the Bearcats' top star.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound three-level scoring wing was one of two Aggies to start all 36 games (30.7 minutes per outing). He led the team and ranked fourth in the Mountain West in scoring at 17.5 points per game while also averaging 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 48.7% shooting (36.1% from deep).
Cincinnati is less than a week away from its first exhibition of the year against Ohio State outdoors at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Oct. 7.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/cincinnati as MJ Collins Eligibility Denied by Ohio Court of Appeals, Cincinnati Bearcats Star Ineligible Still
.
