Trying to make sense of the latest round of eligibility chaos in college sports, which has caught up two athletes from the Tri-Cities.
On Friday, a chancery court judge in Nashville ruled in favor of 19 college basketball players from the state of Tennessee who were Class of 2022 high school graduates and seniors on their respective college teams this past season. Those 19 players included Jack Browder (Kingsport/Dobyns-Bennett/Carson-Newman) and B.J. Edwards (Johnson City/Tennessee/SMU), and they sued for additional eligibility after the NCAA instituted a new eligibility model stipulating five seasons’ collegiate eligibility in the five years after high school.
Meanwhile, also on Friday, a federal judge in Denver issued an injunction making all athletes who graduated high school in the Class of 2022 eligible for the 2026-27 collegiate year. However, that judge later stipulated that the injunction did not allow athletes to enter the transfer portal in their respective sport, which closed months ago in both football and basketball; or override existing NCAA rules about athletes losing their eligibility after signing pro contracts.
Judge I’Ashea Myles, who issued the injunction in Tennessee, also ruled that athletes attached to that case would have from Aug. 3-10 to enter the transfer portal. Edwards, consequently, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday. Browder, meanwhile, went into the portal when it was open in the spring.
Edwards averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists last season at SMU.
Browder, after an All-American senior season at Carson-Newman where he averaged 25.0 points and 9.6 rebounds, just wrapped a stint in Australia’s NBL1 with the Perry Lakes Hawks, where he averaged a league-leading 30.7 points along with 9.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
The NCAA is appealing both the federal and state injunctions.
Elsewhere in college sports…
Baseball
Tyler Myatt (Tazewell, TN/Claiborne County/Tennessee) showed out during the Cape Cod League season, leading the league in home runs with nine in 35 games played.
Nate Eisfelder (Jonesborough/Providence Academy) was named Player of the Month for July in the Appalachian League. Eisfelder hit .365 with a 1.371 OPS in July for a Johnson City Doughboys team that reached the divisional playoffs. He slugged 10 home runs in July, driving in 33 runs and scoring 30 times. Eisfelder also was named Appalachian League Player of the Week twice in July (July 13-19, July 27-30). Eisfelder had 11 home runs for the season, a Doughboys record and the most in the league in 2026. Eisfelder started his college career at Tennessee but, after the Vols’ season ended, he transferred to Indiana.
Football
Jackson Vaughn has been named one of MaxPreps’ top 10 defensive linemen in the Class of 2027. Vaughn has committed to Notre Dame and reclassified from the Class of 2028. His father grew up in Kingsport and went to Dobyns-Bennett while his grandfather, Nathan Vaughn, is a former Vice Mayor and Alderman in Kingsport, as well as a former state representative.