Oklahoma State guard Kashie Natt sues NCAA to play 2026-27 season
Oklahoma State guard Kashie Natt has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking an injunction that would allow him to compete for the Cowboys in the 2026-27 season, according to a report by On3’s Pete Nakos. The lawsuit follows the NCAA’s cancellation of his eligibility waivers.
Natt transferred to Oklahoma State from Sam Houston, and his path to Division I has made his eligibility case more layered than most.
He began at Southern University-Shreveport, a junior college, before spending two seasons at LSU-Alexandria, an NAIA institution. At LSU-Alexandria he was a two-time All-American and the 2025 NAIA National Player of the Year.
His first Division I season came at Sam Houston in 2025-26, where he averaged 10.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and two steals per game and was named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year.
Natt’s background spans JUCO, NAIA, and one Division I season
OSU head coach Steve Lutz had already flagged the situation publicly before the lawsuit was filed. “I don’t have any updates,” Lutz said of Natt’s waiver situation. “There’s been waivers filed with the NCAA, and then obviously depending on what they say, you obviously have to take it to the courts.”
Oklahoma State guard Kashie Natt has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in the wake of his eligibility waivers being cancelled, his attorney @heitner tells @On3.
He’s seeking an injunction against the NCAA to play the 2026-27 college basketball season.https://t.co/5w0WbDCaPt pic.twitter.com/pxvVD7gjHy
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) June 29, 2026
Natt’s case joins a growing wave of legal challenges to the NCAA’s restructured eligibility framework.
The NCAA passed an age-based “5-for-5” rule that grants Division I athletes five years to compete, timed to their initial full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first, replacing the previous four-seasons-in-five-years structure.
The rule does not apply retroactively to athletes who exhausted their eligibility during the 2025-26 academic year.
Another state court eligibility rules lawsuit against the NCAA.
The plaintiff is seeking one more DI season, on the basis that his non-NCAA seasons (Juco and NAIA) shouldn’t count as seasons of DI competition (i.e. extension of the Pavia waiver). https://t.co/T1Tyvjk2il
— Mit Winter (@WinterSportsLaw) June 30, 2026
Athletes caught in that gap have been pursuing legal remedies in multiple states. The first group lawsuit was filed in Hamilton County, Ohio, with 15 Division I basketball players seeking emergency relief. Heitner has indicated additional individual lawsuits are coming.
Natt’s career path through a junior college and two NAIA seasons before reaching Division I creates a different eligibility calculation than a traditional four-year player. The waiver process was his first route; the courts are now his second.
Natt is listed on Oklahoma State’s roster for 2026-27 with his eligibility situation unresolved. Lutz has called him “an unbelievable human being” and spoken about the energy he has already brought to the team since arriving in Stillwater. The Cowboys went 20-15 last season.
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