By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
LSU guard Skyy Clark remains eligible to play in the Tigers’ regular season opener on Tuesday and onward after the Kentucky Court of Appeals denied the NCAA’s request for an emergency stay of the temporary injunction Clark and 37 other college athletes previously received granting them eligibility.
Clark, a 6-foot-2 fifth-year senior transfer from UCLA, is one of many class of 2022 college athletes from various sports suing the NCAA for a fifth season of eligibility following the approval of the new age-based five-year eligibility model last June by the NCAA.
Will Wade Wow factor goes Wild! He just gained commitment from 5-star point guard Reese Alston of Houston, beating Kentucky, Louisville and Tennessee. @kacehk https://t.co/DiwFNYGsXj
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 29, 2026
Clark initially filed in the same California lawsuit that has granted LSU point guard Donovan Dent, also a fifth-year senior from UCLA, eligibility through the 2026-2027 season. But Clark later switched to a similar lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court in Louisville, Kentucky.
“We have two that are temporarily eligible through the courts right now through different cases (Clark and Dent), and we’re certainly aware that those things can fluctuate and change,” LSU coach Will Wade said at a press conference on Thursday, leading up to his season opener against LSU-New Orleans at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The denial of emergency stay means the athletes’ temporary eligibility granted by the injunction will not be revoked as the lawsuit continues, but it does not mean the appeals process in either Clark’s or Dent’s cases are over, which is why Wade considers Clark and Dent temporarily eligible.
Both cases Clark and Dent are involved in are expected to face more appeals in the coming weeks.
While being two of only three remaining LSU players whose eligibility could possibly change, Clark and Dent are expected to form a vaunted back court for the Tigers this season as a talented, experienced duo who have played together that Wade will rely upon. Clark just scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from three-point range with eight rebounds, three assists and a steal against two turnovers in the Tigers’ exhibition loss at Florida State last Saturday. Dent scored 24 points, including 3-of-6 shooting from long range, and dished nine assists in that game.
LSU’s only other eligibility issue on its roster concerns 7-foot-3 former pro player in Palencia, Spain, who is a native of Tel Aviv, Israel. He has not yet been cleared by the NCAA as he turned 24 on July 3 and is too old, according to the NCAA’s new age-based rule passed last June that allows college athletes to play five seasons over five years instead of four years.
The five-year clock for overseas pro players who have never been to college, like Levy, begins with the first full-time semester after they turn 19. Levy turned 19 on July 3, 2021, so his clock at LSU, or another school, began with the 2021-22 season. His five-season window, therefore, ended when the 2025-26 season ended.
But the NCAA allows exceptions to that rule for a variety of reasons, including military service. And LSU is confident it will get an exception with Levy as he served three years in the Israel Defense Forces, according to Wade, and conceivably would be considered a sophomore when cleared.
“He was in the Israeli military,” Wade said Thursday. “There’s a military exemption. We’ve turned in the last of his stuff (information to the NCAA). I anticipate he’ll be fine.”
Will Wade will not roster RJ Luis despite a Baton Rouge judge saying he could on Wednesday. "I’m not talking about what happened yesterday. My stance has not changed." … Will Wade just now at press conference. That stance has been not to roster RJ Luis. https://t.co/pNKzmticBV
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 29, 2026
And Wade said Thursday he has no plans to roster former LSU RJ Luis, a star forward at St. John’s in the 2024-25 season before signing two NBA contracts, despite a Baton Rouge judge’s ruling on Wednesday allowing him to play. He had signed with LSU last May, but Wade and LSU officials knew his eligibility at LSU would be a long shot.
“We are who we are at this point,” Wade said Thursday.
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