Ex-Nevada star Cortez Braham Jr. sues NCAA for seventh college season, claiming $500K loss

Cortez Braham Jr., who spent last season on the Nevada football team, is suing the NCAA for a seventh year of college eligibility.

A 6-foot-2, 201-pound wide receiver, Braham was among a wave of former junior-college players who starred for the Wolf Pack last season and were seemingly out of eligibility but entered the transfer portal this offseason. But Braham has not committed to a new school as he seeks an additional year of eligibility, which he claims could net him up to $500,000 in name, image and likeness money.

The NCAA has faced a number of lawsuits from athletes with antitrust claims who argue they should not be limited by the NCAA’s eligibility clock, which includes four years of active playing time over a five-season period. The NCAA’s rules have held seasons played at the junior-college level count against four years of NCAA eligibility, although Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who at one time was committed to Nevada, received an injunction last December after he argued his JuCo years should not count against his NCAA clock. The NCAA has appealed the court ruling favoring Pavia but granted junior-college athletes a temporary additional year of eligibility in 2025-26.

Many Nevada Wolf Pack athletes have or plan to take advantage of that ruling, which apparently does not apply to Braham because his five-year clock has expired. Braham spent three seasons at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College from 2019-21 and two at West Virginia from 2022-23 before arriving at Nevada last season. Braham redshirted at West Virginia in 2023 after playing in three games and 2020 did not count against eligibility due to COVID-19’s impact, the latter making him eligible for the Wolf Pack last season as his NCAA clock was extended to six years. Braham also was committed to Buffalo at one point but did not play for the Bulls.

Braham played three seasons at Hutchinson, two at West Virginia and one at Nevada, so he is seeking a seventh active season over a seven-year period. The Baltimore, Md., native initially intended to transfer to West Virginia for the 2021 season but had a GPA of 2.47, below the minimum requirement of 2.5 for a JuCo-to-FBS transfer. The lawsuit argues that is an unfair standard given given the academic requirement to transfer from one four-year school to another within the NCAA is a 2.00 GPA. Braham raised his GPA enough before the 2022 season to transfer to West Virginia where he played sparingly that season before having a career year at Nevada in 2024.

Braham started all 13 games for Nevada last season and was named All-Mountain West honorable mention after finishing second on the team in receptions (56), receiving yards (724) and touchdown catches (four). He took part in Nevada’s senior day ceremonies and believed his career to be over prior to Pavia’s lawsuit.

Braham’s lawsuit alleges Nevada, through its compliance staff, has repeatedly refused to file a “a waiver request so that the NCAA can exercise its discretion to waive the Five-Year rule and the JUCO transfer GPA requirement as it applies to Braham.” The lawsuit says the university told Braham he should “find a lawyer and file a lawsuit against the NCAA instead of looking to the school for help” and that litigation was the only path available for Braham’s quest for an additional year of eligibility in 2025. NCAA rule states any school Braham could transfer to would be eligible to file a waiver on his behalf.

The lawsuit argues Braham not being granted an additional year of eligibility would “permanently deprive him of a once-in-a-lifetime NIL contract opportunity worth nearly $500,000 and the opportunity to enhance his career and reputation by playing another year of Division I football. Additionally, this will harm Braham’s lifetime of hard work in the classroom and on the football field that he has pursued to even be considered for these opportunities. The NCAA’s anti-competitive conduct, coupled with his former university affiliation’s unreasonable denial of Braham’s ability to request a specific NCAA waiver, is resulting in irreversible damage.”

At least two Nevada transfers who were seniors last season got an additional year of eligibility due to Pavia’s injunction and have signed with power-conference schools this offseason, those being cornerbacks Michael Coats Jr. (West Virginia) and Chad Brown (Purdue). It is unknown if they received NCAA waiver requests from Nevada as Coats is entering his sixth college season and Brown his seventh, meaning they have seemingly navigated around the NCAA’s five-year eligibility window to play in 2025.

If Braham was granted an additional year of college eligibility, that would not come at Nevada as Braham entered the transfer portal and has reportedly taken recruiting visits or planned visits with Kentucky, Kansas, Memphis and Arkansas. He remains unsigned and did not participate in any school’s spring camp.

The NCAA and junior-college system are governed by separate entities with athletes arguing their time in the National Junior College Athletic Association should not count against their eligibility in the NCAA. The lawsuit argues NCAA rules do not prohibit former pro athletes from profiting from NIL in Division I football, citing Chris Weinke’s time as a Heisman Trophy-winning Florida State quarterback after a six-year professional baseball career, saying holding junior-college players to a higher standard in eligibility considerations is unfair.

The lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday and first reported by Boise State assistant professor Sam C. Ehrlich, was drafted by Reno-based attorney Brandon D. Wright as well as Gregg E. Clifton, from Phoenix. Braham is seeking a court declaration and an injunction. Presiding over Cortez vs. NCAA is U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du and U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig S. Denney of the Nevada federal district court.

You can read the entire lawsuit below.