Former IU basketball forward Sam Alexis wins preliminary injunction for additional season of eligibility

Photos from IU basketball's win against Wisconsin.

Former IU basketball forward Sam Alexis is among a group of players who won a temporary injunction for an additional season of eligibility, it was announced on Friday.

The Twentieth Judicial District in Nashville, Tennessee, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, which includes Alexis, who were seeking an additional season of eligibility.

“A preliminary injunction order after a full hearing is a game-changer. And now we have that in Ohio and Tennessee,” attorney Darren Heitner, representing the plaintiffs, wrote on X. “The NCAA should read the writing on the wall. Give the 2022 class the eligibility it deserves.

“Congrats to Jalen Washington, Brody Robinson, Jack Browder, Olamide Ajiboye, Daniel Egbuniwe, Cameron Fens, Chendall Weaver, Jason Edwards, Zachary Davis, Tarence Guinyard, A.J. Storr, Carly Keats, Braxton Slacker, B.J. Edwards, Isabel Grimes, Jaylon Johnson, Sam Alexis, N.J. Benson, and Dug McDaniel!”

With the legal win on Friday, Alexis is currently eligible to play in the 2026-27 season.

In addition, a U.S. District judge in Colorado granted a “class-wide preliminary injunction that requires the NCAA to declare eligible all HS class of 2022 athletes who exhausted four seasons of eligibility this spring” on Friday.

The 6-foot-9 forward recently played with IU in the FISU America Games in Lima, Peru. Last season for the Hoosiers, he averaged 7.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 21.3 minutes per game.

Indiana currently has a scholarship open for next season’s roster.

Following the program’s first win against Peru in the FISU America Games, Darian DeVries addressed two questions regarding the addition of Alexis to the United States roster for the FISU America Games:

On bringing Sam Alexis to Peru to play in the upcoming games:

“Adding Sam just gives us some more versatility without two of our other bigs, just to be able to sub a little bit more, also potentially slide eight into the four. So just so we have enough bodies to be able to do that.

“So we’ll look for some opportunities to do that as well. And just having his experience from last year, being around the guys. So it’s a great opportunity for us to take advantage of him, being able to participate and kind of provide some leadership from his knowledge of last year and going into this year for this group.”

On whether Sam is trying to get another season of eligibility:

“Right now, our intention is just to have that body. That’s why we brought him here is just to add to it. Again, like I said, we originally were going to have to play six games in eight days.

“And we just didn’t think with the bodies that we had, that that was going to be enough. So thankfully, Sam was able to do it. The timing worked out with him getting done with OKC on Sunday and he was able to get here earlier this morning. So it just helps us to take full advantage of this trip.”

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