Former Penn men’s basketball player Jordan Dingle loses eligibility suit against NCAA

Though he spent his final collegiate season away from Penn men’s basketball, a part of his Ivy League career continues to follow former conference player of the year Jordan Dingle.

Dingle, a former Quakers guard who played at St. John’s in the 2023-24 season, recently brought a lawsuit against the NCAA, along with Red Storm teammate and former Harvard forward Chris Ledlum, seeking an additional year of collegiate eligibility following the conference’s cancellation of all sports during the 2020-21 season.

According to the New York Post, a Queens judge has denied the pair’s request for injunctive relief in their case against the NCAA, likely marking the end of the legal proceedings. Dingle and Ledlum sought relief after their initial waiver for a fifth year was denied by the NCAA.

In 2021, the NCAA granted all college athletes an additional year of eligibility following a year that was marred by the COVID-19 pandemic. Though different conferences experienced different levels of cancellation, the NCAA issued a blanket fifth year to all athletes. However, athletes in the Ivy League, which experienced a total cancellation of all fall, winter, and spring sports, were not permitted to use the additional year.

“[Dingle and Ledlum] were unable, through no fault of their own, to play basketball during their sophomore season since the Ivy League canceled all winter sports during the 2020-21 academic year,” their attorneys wrote in a statement following the initial suit. “They were forced to sit and watch while other D-I conferences continued with all or part of their winter seasons, despite COVID. To add insult to injury, the student-athletes who had a chance to participate in athletics during the COVID year received an extra year of eligibility, while student-athletes from conferences that shut down their seasons were not afforded similar treatment.”

Dingle, who averaged 11.6 points per game for a St. John’s team that went 20-13 and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament, is now expected to follow through with the NBA draft process and pursue a professional career due to running out of collegiate eligibility.