Mark Mitchell eligible for fifth season, after judge grants TRO

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KMIZ)

Former Mizzou star Mark Mitchell and some other athletes will be eligible to play another season of college hoops, after a Kentucky judge granted him a temporary restraining order, on Friday.

That's according to Hans Poppe, who was one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the case.

The ruling not only means that Mitchell can play in his fifth season of college basketball, but is also eligible to enter the transfer portal for the 2026-27 season. And he ended up doing so just hours after the decision came down, according to 247Sports insider Matt Zenitz, as the forward will now test the transfer waters.

Of course, Mitchell originally exhausted his NCAA eligibility following Mizzou's 2025-26 season, where he helped lead the Tigers to an NCAA Tournament berth. After MU's first-round exit in the Big Dance, the Kansas City native declared for the NBA Draft. While he was not drafted through two days of action, he did end up signing an Exhibit-10 deal with the Denver Nuggets, which allowed him to play in NBA Summer League action in July.

However, things changed once a Colorado judge granted a nationwide preliminary injunction for a fifth year of eligibility for all Division I athletes that graduated in the high school Class of 2022, due to the NCAA's new age-based eligibility model. Since that ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has essentially stripped away all federal eligibility protection for the Class of 2022, meaning each athlete will need their own court ruling in order to be eligible for a fifth season.

Mitchell earned that critical ruling, on Friday, as now the question turns to where he will play his fifth season, assuming he chooses to return to college.

It's important to note that Tiger head coach Dennis Gates has a full roster for the upcoming 2026-27 campaign. While Mitchell's return to Mizzou isn't totally out of the question, reports have linked the forward to programs like Kentucky for his final collegiate season.

Mitchell, 6-foot-9, 230-pound talent, earned All-SEC selections each of the past two seasons at Mizzou.