A federal judge has denied a former Division II college baseball player’s motion for a temporary restraining order and injunction that would have allowed him to play this season at Maryland.
Trey Ciulla-Hall, who played the past four seasons at Stonehill College in North Easton, Massachusetts, had taken his case to a federal court in Massachusetts after the NCAA denied Maryland’s request for a waiver that would have enabled him to play for the Terrapins this season.
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper denied the motion Friday.
Ciulla-Hall said in his complaint that he participated in one game beyond the normally scheduled legislated limits in 2021 “due to considerable confusion regarding the COVID season of competition relief at the Division II and III levels.”
The complaint also notes that Ciulla-Hall faced financial challenges that year as he traveled home to help his siblings care for his ill mother.
“The Court is not unsympathetic to Ciulla-Hall’s situation, and notes that the denial of injunctive relief does not reflect any assessment of the plausibility of his complaints,” Casper said in her ruling. “Nevertheless, on an undeveloped record, and under emergency circumstances that are not of the NCAA’s making, and in fact, appear at least in part attributable to Ciulla-Hall’s delay in seeking injunctive relief, Ciulla-Hall has not met the burden for injunctive relief.”
Ciulla-Hall had his motion denied one day after football player Nyzier Fourqurean had a preliminary injunction granted that would enable the cornerback to maintain his eligibility and play for Wisconsin this fall.
Fourqurean, who transferred to Wisconsin in 2023, had argued the two seasons he played at Division II school Grand Valley State at the start of his college career shouldn’t count against his eligibility.
In issuing his decision in a Wisconsin federal court, U.S. District Judge William Conley said this was a narrow ruling applying only to the “unique circumstances” of Fourqurean’s case. The decision came one day before the deadline for Fourqurean to pull his name out of consideration for the NFL draft.
The NCAA filed a notice of appeal in the Fourqurean case Friday.
“It is clear the NCAA is not done fighting my ability to play,” Fourqurean said Friday in a statement posted on social media. “The decision to appeal by the NCAA left me in a tough spot because opting out of the draft is not something that can wait while the appeal process continues. While I wish I had more certainty, I have decided to put my faith in the legal process and in Judge Conley’s decision and have pulled out of the draft so that I can continue my playing career at UW.
“I am excited for what this year will bring and hopeful that I will be able to be out there with my teammates, representing my school for the duration of the year.”
Ciulla-Hall said he wanted to play Division I baseball this season in part for the opportunity to profit off his name, image and likeness. Friday marked Ciulla-Hall’s deadline to enroll in classes for the spring semester.
Casper said that the court wasn’t convinced the NCAA’s denial of the waiver was in violation of its own rules and that Ciulla-Hall hadn’t met the burden of showing a likelihood of success on the merits as to his antitrust claims.
In the Fourqurean case, the Wisconsin defensive back said the NCAA’s denial of his waiver prevented him from profiting from NIL opportunities. A sports marketing consultant declared that Fourqurean could make “something north of $250,000 and maybe as high as $500,000” by playing at Wisconsin this fall.
Fourqurean also noted that the death of his father in the summer of 2021 impacted his mental health and limited his offseason training. Fourqurean participated in 11 games for Grand Valley State but played only 155 snaps.
Matt Mitchell, who coached Fourqurean at Grand Valley State, said the cornerback was forced into action in 2021 because of injuries to other players but wasn’t “physically ready or in a great mental head space.” Mitchell added that Fourqurean probably wouldn’t have played at all that year in a typical season.
