A federal judge gave a large group of Division I athletes from the high school Class of 2022 a fifth season of eligibility on Friday. That group appears to include two former BYU starters: center Keba Keita and offensive lineman Weylin Lapuaho.
It does not mean either player is returning to Provo.
That distinction matters because the ruling arrived late in the roster cycle, after both players had moved toward professional careers and after BYU had spent an offseason building without them. The court changed the first question, “Can they play another college season?” It did not answer the next three: Do they want to, can BYU fit them, and will the injunction survive the NCAA’s appeal?
For BYU fans, the honest update is that two doors reopened. Nobody has walked through them.
What the judge actually ordered
U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney in Denver granted a class-wide preliminary injunction in Wisne v. NCAA. The Associated Press reports that it applies to Division I athletes who began their college careers in the 2022-23 season and exhausted a fourth season of competition by the end of 2025-26.
The timing is the point. In June, the NCAA approved a new “five-for-five” model that allows five seasons of competition within a five-year period, with implementation set to begin for a later class. The plaintiffs argued that athletes who started in 2022 should not miss that treatment by one cycle.
Sweeney’s injunction gives the covered group eligibility for 2026-27 while the case proceeds. CBS Sports reports that the NCAA intends to seek an expedited appeal. It also reports a one-week transfer portal window beginning Aug. 3 for athletes affected by the ruling.
| What changed Friday | What did not change |
|---|---|
| Covered Class of 2022 athletes received a fifth season under a preliminary injunction | The case is not final, and the NCAA plans to appeal |
| A late transfer window is expected to open Aug. 3 | A roster spot, scholarship or revenue-share agreement is not automatic |
| Keita and Lapuaho appear to fit the covered career timeline | Neither player nor BYU has announced a reunion |
| Schools can revisit players who had exhausted four seasons | Professional-contract, enrollment and compliance questions still require individual review |
This is a legal opening, not a transaction wire. Until BYU or a player says otherwise, fans should not turn eligibility into a commitment.
Why Keba Keita fits the class
Keita’s official BYU profile gives the cleanest career receipt. He played two seasons at Utah and two at BYU, appearing in 134 college games. His two Cougar seasons included 68 starts, averages of 6.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, and a program-record 68% field-goal rate in 2025-26.
He also graduated in April and signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Indiana Pacers after going undrafted. The Pacers placed him on their 2026 Summer League roster.
That professional step is why “Keita is eligible” and “Keita is coming back” are very different headlines. BYU would need clarity on his NCAA status after the Exhibit 10 deal, Keita would have to choose college over his current professional path, and the basketball staff would have to decide that a reunion is the best use of a late roster opportunity.
The basketball fit is easy to understand. Keita already knows Kevin Young’s program, rebounds, protects the rim and finishes efficiently. BYU has spent the offseason searching for frontcourt help and recently added Jakub Urbaniak, whose fit we analyzed as a floor-raising move rather than a finished center room.
The limitations are familiar too. Keita is 6-foot-8, and his offensive value comes mostly around the rim. Bringing him back would restore known defense and continuity. It would not turn him into the stretch center BYU has also explored.
That makes Keita a real basketball question, not an automatic yes. Familiarity has value this late. So does keeping a professional commitment and moving forward.
Why Weylin Lapuaho fits the class
Lapuaho’s official BYU profile says he started all 38 games of his college career: 13 at Utah State in 2022 and 25 at BYU through the profile’s published career summary. He was a BYU co-captain in 2024, earned All-Big 12 honorable mention from the conference’s coaches that year and finished his fourth college season in 2025.
After the 2026 NFL Draft, Deseret News reported that Lapuaho received a Kansas City Chiefs rookie-minicamp invitation. He does not appear on the Chiefs’ current roster.
The football logic is also obvious. A veteran guard with three years in BYU’s program would bring far less installation risk than a normal August addition. The Cougars entered fall camp replacing his experience on the interior, even with Paki Finau’s move giving the line more flexibility and Andrew Williams adding another developmental option.
But football has its own hard limits. BYU’s official 2026 roster already lists 116 players, including 20 offensive linemen. That number is not a scholarship count, but it shows the practical issue: coaches allocated reps and roster inventory under the rules that existed before Friday.
Lapuaho would have to want another college season. BYU would have to find a compliant roster path. The line staff would then have to decide whether immediate veteran stability is worth changing a competition that has run all offseason without him.
His résumé makes the idea plausible. The calendar makes it complicated.
Four checks before treating either return as real
The next few days will produce plenty of names attached to plenty of schools. BYU fans can keep this one clean by waiting for four separate confirmations.
- The injunction remains operative. The NCAA has said it will appeal. A fast legal change could alter the process again.
- The player wants to return. Eligibility is an option, not a command. Keita has a Pacers deal, and Lapuaho already took an NFL minicamp shot.
- BYU has a place. Football and basketball built their rosters without expecting these fifth seasons. The staff must make a real roster and budget decision.
- Compliance clears the details. Each athlete’s enrollment, professional activity and paperwork need individual review. A class-wide ruling does not replace that work.
Only after those steps does depth-chart analysis become useful.
That is especially important with Keita because basketball’s need at center will make every possibility feel like an imminent signing. It is also important with Lapuaho because a returning starter is the easiest kind of football story to pencil into a lineup before anyone involved has spoken.
BYU has not announced either return. Keita and Lapuaho have not publicly committed to another college season. Those are the two most important facts after the court order.
What Friday changed for BYU
The ruling gave BYU two unexpected options at positions where experience would matter. Keita could restore rebounding, rim protection and scheme familiarity to a frontcourt still being built. Lapuaho could put 38 career starts back into an offensive-line room preparing for a serious fall-camp pressure test.
The court did not make either option simple.
The most useful fan posture is neither dismissal nor reunion hype. Watch the appeal, the Aug. 3 portal window, official roster changes and direct statements from the players or BYU. If one of those signals arrives, the fit conversation gets real in a hurry.
Until then, Friday’s news is about eligibility. It is not yet about a comeback.
Sources and further reading
- Associated Press, July 31: Courts hand NCAA a major loss on the five-year eligibility rule
- CBS Sports, Aug. 1: Colorado judge grants a class-wide preliminary injunction
- BYU Athletics: Keba Keita official profile and four-season career record
- Indiana Pacers: 2026 Summer League roster
- BYU Athletics: Weylin Lapuaho official profile and career starts
- Deseret News, April 25: Lapuaho received a Chiefs minicamp invitation
- BYU Cougars On SI, Aug. 1: the ruling’s initial BYU-specific eligibility read
- BYU Sport Nuts: football roster, men’s basketball hub and eligibility and mission roster guide
