PROVIDENCE – Joseph Pinion and Derek Simpson made their initial virtual appearance Monday, Oct. 19, in front of the Rhode Island branch of the U.S. District Court, a first hearing of both their federal antitrust lawsuit and applications for both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction.
The two men’s basketball players are seeking eligibility for a fifth college season with Providence in 2026-27. Both have been practicing with the team ahead of a scheduled Nov. 2 opener against Maine, but neither has been cleared by the NCAA for competition.
Pinion and Simpson both wore suits while seated at a conference room table in their attorney’s office. They were flanked by counsel and Friars coach Bryan Hodgson, who joined his potential players throughout the 90-minute proceeding. Judge Melissa R. DuBose declined to issue any immediate ruling but said she’s cognizant of the timeline involved leading up to a date with the Black Bears.
“There are folks whose lives are in limbo while this court makes a decision,” DuBose said. “I’m sensitive to that. We’ll come up with a ruling expeditiously.”
Pinion is seeking a fifth year with Providence after previous time at Arkansas, Arkansas State and South Florida. He transferred from the Razorbacks to join Hodgson with the Arkansas State Red Wolves in 2024-25 and followed him when Hodgson was hired away by the South Florida Bulls for 2025-26. Simpson played two years at Rutgers from 2022-24 and two years at Saint Joseph’s from 2024-26, earning all-conference honors in the Atlantic 10 with the Hawks last season.
“I think they should be allowed to play while we go through the preliminary injunction process and sort out this chaos,” said Marc DeSisto, the lead counsel for Pinion and Simpson on behalf of DeSisto Law. “I don’t think they should be waiting and watching others play.”
DeSisto’s initial filing cited the NCAA’s “unlawful action in implementing a new eligibility rule” when it unanimously adopted what is referred to as the 5-in-5 model – five calendar years, five seasons of eligibility, age-based restrictions when applicable. The new standard eliminated waivers and redshirt seasons, and it began with the recruiting Class of 2023. Pinion and Simpson are both members of the recruiting Class of 2022, and the NCAA contends their eligibility was exhausted prior to that June vote by the organization’s cabinet.
“What the plaintiffs are asking you to do today is to flip the status quo,” said Kate E. Gehl, lead counsel for the NCAA and a Milwaukee-based partner at Foley & Lardner. “These players were ineligible at the end of the 2025-26 season. And they remain ineligible today.”
Pinion and Simpson filed in federal court after multiple athletes were unsuccessful in gaining a fifth year of eligibility through Superior Court in Rhode Island. Providence men’s soccer player Cameron Yriondo and University of Rhode Island football players A.J. Peña and Justin Carcel saw their motions for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions denied in recent weeks. Judge Sarah Taft-Carter heard and issued decisions in both cases – her rulings were frequently cited throughout Monday’s arguments.
“She found there’s been no breach here,” Gehl said. “The bylaw doesn’t apply to plaintiffs at all who had exhausted their eligibility under the 2025-26 manual. They weren’t entitled to any eligibility under the new age-based framework.”
DeSisto cited multiple ongoing proceedings in other states that could allow eligibility for men’s basketball players in the Big East – Providence's conference home for nearly five decades – during this upcoming season. St. John’s forward Keyshawn Hall was granted a temporary restraining order earlier this month and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order granting immediate eligibility to all fifth-year athletes, including Xavier forward Filip Borovicanin. The NCAA is appealing the Hall decision in New York and is suing DeWine in federal court for “flouting the NCAA’s rules.”
“We respectfully submit those are all based on faulty legal reasoning,” Gehl said. “The NCAA has appealed all of those decisions. The two state appellate courts that have really looked at this plain text argument we’ve been talking about have agreed with the NCAA – just as Judge Taft-Carter did.”
Gehl cited the start of opening arguments in Wisne v. NCAA, a Colorado case that has since progressed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. A state judge granted a class-wide injunction for all fifth-year athletes in late July that has since been stayed. A final ruling on Wisne could establish a federal precedent that would supersede conclusions at the state level.
“To say that what the NCAA has done and interpreted that carves out this Class of 2022 is chaotic is putting it mildly,” DeSisto said. “There are multiple suits across the nation. It mandates that judges have to decide on individuals on a case-by-case basis.
“I can just tell you, and the court knows – what that results in is inconsistent findings.”
The Friars currently have 13 players on their roster – Friday’s departure of Dink Pate for a return to professional basketball opened another spot. DeSisto said filling any vacancies with Pinion and Simpson wouldn’t displace any currently eligible student-athletes hoping to play at Providence. Gehl asserted the Friars might have held those places open for two players not currently eligible and denied any potential additions from being recruited.
“To allow these players to play when they’re ineligible – it does cause harm,” Gehl said. “We’ve heard here that two roster spots have been reserved for these two players even knowing that they’re ineligible under the current rules unless they can get a court to come in and second guess that decision.”
This is Simpson’s third involvement in a lawsuit seeking eligibility for the upcoming season. He was part of a North Carolina filing that was voluntarily dismissed and, Gehl said, testified in a preliminary injunction filing a Pennsylvania judge ruled against last month.
“He’s trying again in front of this court to see if he can get a different result,” Gehl said. “Yes, we say it again – that is blatant forum shopping. It should be a fact this court considers in issuance of any injunction here.”
DuBose was a first-year undergraduate student when Providence made the second of its two men’s basketball Final Four appearances in 1987. She completed a degree in political science in 1990 before going on to her decorated legal career. DuBose made a light-hearted allusion to her time as a student with the Friars before turning to the business at hand.
“It’s been quite a distance between my days being there on campus,” DuBose said. “Both parties agreed there was no reason for me to recuse. I don’t believe I would have any issue with being impartial.”
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence awaits ruling that could put 2 key players on the court