Jaxon Kohler remains eligible for BYU’s Oct. 16 exhibition against Nebraska. That is the clean answer from a California hearing that produced no final ruling Tuesday.
The harder answer is that BYU traded one deadline for another. The preliminary-injunction hearing in Glancey v. NCAA will continue Oct. 20 because the court did not finish hearing testimony. The temporary restraining order covering Kohler and the other named players remains in effect until then, according to post-hearing reports from Vanquish the Foe and BYU Cougars Wire.
That gives Kevin Young a usable center for the first public game and three more weeks of practice under the current order. It does not secure Kohler for the season. The new hearing date falls four days after Nebraska, four days before BYU’s exhibition at UNLV and 13 days before the Nov. 2 regular-season opener against Ohio State.
The delay is good for BYU’s immediate basketball work. It is uncomfortable for almost everything after that.
What actually happened Tuesday
Kohler is one of more than 70 basketball players challenging the NCAA’s decision not to extend its new five-seasons-in-five-years model to athletes who began college in 2022. The California court granted the group temporary protection in August, opening a transfer window and stopping the NCAA from enforcing its four-season limit against the named players while the court considers longer relief.
Tuesday was supposed to address the request for a preliminary injunction. That would offer protection beyond the short emergency order while the underlying case moves forward.
The court did not reach a decision. Vanquish the Foe reported from people present at the hearing and updates from the plaintiffs’ lawyers that not every witness was able to testify. The hearing will resume Oct. 20, and the existing order stays in place in the meantime. BYU Cougars Wire independently reported the same new date and current eligibility status.
Kohler testified Tuesday. St. John’s coach Rick Pitino also testified in support of the players, according to those reports. The testimony matters to the case, but it does not change the public ruling because there was no new ruling.
That wording is worth protecting. Kohler did not win permanent eligibility Tuesday. The NCAA did not remove him from BYU’s roster. The court kept the current arrangement in place and scheduled more testimony.
Our guide to the Sept. 29 hearing included deferral as one of the possible outcomes because sports calendars do not force courts to produce same-day answers. That third possibility is now BYU’s reality.
BYU gained one game and lost planning room
The schedule makes the practical effect easy to see.
| Date | BYU checkpoint | Kohler’s public status |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 16 | Nebraska exhibition in Provo | Eligible under the continuing temporary order |
| Oct. 20 | California hearing resumes | Longer protection remains undecided |
| Oct. 24 | UNLV exhibition in Las Vegas | Depends on what protection exists after Oct. 20 |
| Nov. 2 | Ohio State regular-season opener in Salt Lake City | Only 13 days after the resumed hearing |
The Nebraska game is useful for more than box-score curiosity. It gives Young a real opponent against which to test Kohler’s screen angles, pick-and-pop spacing, defensive coverage and rebounding fit. Kohler can take those reps now instead of standing beside the court while lawyers work.
The timing after Nebraska gets tighter. If the court grants preliminary relief Oct. 20, BYU can move toward UNLV and Ohio State with stronger protection, though the possibility of an NCAA appeal would remain. If protection is denied or paused, the Cougars may have to change their frontcourt four days before the second exhibition. If the hearing ends without a complete decision again, BYU will need to read the court’s interim instructions rather than assume the current order lasts forever.
This is why “still eligible” is accurate but incomplete. BYU can use Kohler today. It may not know which center plan reaches the regular season until less than two weeks before tipoff.
The men’s basketball schedule begins with two exhibitions for a reason. Young wants to learn how his new roster behaves before Ohio State puts the result in the standings. The court has now turned the first exhibition into a Kohler test and the second into a legal question.
The extra 21 days have real basketball value
The three-week extension from Sept. 29 to Oct. 20 is not a full-season guarantee. It is still valuable practice time.
Kohler is not a late addition who can be parked in a simple rim-running role. Michigan State’s official record lists him at 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds. He started all 35 games last season, averaged 12.5 points and 8.9 rebounds, made 58 of 149 3-pointers and finished with 12 double-doubles. His 312 rebounds ranked 24th nationally.
That profile changes where BYU places everyone else. A center who shot 38.9% from deep can pull a rim protector away from Rob Wright III, Collin Chandler and Bruce Branch III. A proven Big Ten rebounder can also end possessions without forcing every guard to collapse toward the glass.
Those jobs require shared timing. Kohler has to learn when Wright rejects a screen, where Chandler wants the release pass and how quickly Branch turns a mismatch into a drive. The guards have to learn whether Kohler pops, seals or slips. Defensively, the entire group has to agree on what happens when he meets the ball above the foul line.
Three more weeks let BYU build those habits against its own rotation and then test them against Nebraska. Even if the legal answer later turns against Kohler, the practice is not wasted. Young gets a clearer picture of which actions depend on Kohler and which ones survive with another center.
The distinction should shape every install between now and Oct. 20. BYU can treat Kohler as the starter without making him the only player who knows the starting job.
The backup plan cannot stay on paper
Kohler is the only proven high-major center in BYU’s projected group. That was true before Tuesday, and a delayed hearing does not change it.
The frontcourt reset after Jakub Urbaniak’s ineligibility left Petar Ostojic and Khadim Mboup as the clearest alternatives. Ostojic brings 7-foot-1 size but no Division I game record. Mboup knows the program but has not carried a Big 12 center rotation. Jake Wahlin can absorb frontcourt minutes, although asking him to replace Kohler’s rebounding and interior defense would change both his role and BYU’s shape.
Young does not need to split practice into two unrelated offenses. He needs the same actions to have different endings.
With Kohler, a ball screen can become a pop to a 39% shooter, a post seal or an offensive-rebound chance. With a less experienced center, the same entry may end in a rim roll, a handoff or a quick reversal back to BYU’s guards. The vocabulary can stay familiar even when the threat changes.
Rebounding is harder to hide. Kohler averaged 8.9 per game in the Big Ten and led Michigan State on the glass. No BYU alternative owns a comparable college sample. The Cougars may have to send another player to the boards, which would reduce their transition defense, or play a larger wing combination around the replacement center.
Nebraska can expose that trade before the court forces BYU to make it. Young should use the exhibition to see both versions, even while Kohler is eligible. Giving every center meaningful minutes is not a lack of faith in Tuesday’s extension. It is the responsible use of a game that does not count in the standings.
Oct. 20 is a stronger checkpoint, not a promised finish
The next hearing should answer more than Tuesday did because the court scheduled it to continue unfinished testimony. It still may not end the entire dispute.
A preliminary injunction would protect Kohler while the case moves toward trial. It would be a better foundation than the current temporary order. The NCAA could still appeal or seek a stay. A denial would threaten Kohler’s immediate availability, but the players could continue litigating or pursue appellate relief. Another deferred decision would leave BYU dependent on whatever interim protection the court specifies.
Fans should watch for the actual order, not a social-media verdict built from who testified or which lawyer sounded confident. The useful questions are narrow:
- Does the temporary order remain active after Oct. 20?
- Does the court grant a preliminary injunction, and whom does it cover?
- Does the order address fifth-year competition, prior professional activity and transfer eligibility?
- Does the NCAA immediately seek a stay or appeal?
Until those answers are published, BYU has permission to prepare Kohler and no reason to pretend the roster is settled for November.
Young told Hoops HQ before Tuesday that his G League experience taught him to coach whichever roster is available that day. The court just gave him the same roster for three more weeks. Now he has to use that time without confusing temporary availability for certainty.
Kohler can play against Nebraska. BYU should learn everything it can from that game, because the clock between the next hearing and Ohio State is only 13 days.
The men’s basketball hub keeps the roster, schedule and season links together. Our original Kohler fit analysis explains why his shooting and rebounding change BYU’s ceiling.
Sources and further reading
- Vanquish the Foe: update after the California hearing for the report from hearing attendees, unfinished testimony, Oct. 20 continuation, Kohler’s testimony and the continuing temporary order.
- BYU Cougars Wire: no court decision on Kohler’s eligibility for independent confirmation of the deferred decision, current eligibility and next court date.
- Hoops HQ: Kevin Young on Kohler and roster uncertainty for Kohler’s enrollment and practice status, Young’s roster-management approach and the frontcourt need.
- Deseret News: why Kohler’s California protection is separate for the state-case distinction, temporary order and five-in-five background.
- Michigan State Athletics: Jaxon Kohler official record for his size, 2025-26 starts, scoring, rebounding, shooting and double-double totals.
- BYU Sport Nuts: 2026-27 men’s basketball schedule for the Nebraska, UNLV and Ohio State sequence.
