Court sides with Tyon Grant-Foster, hearing to take place in Spokane before Gonzaga’s game

Grant-Foster's eligibility case has been moved back to Spokane County

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Tyon Grant-Foster. | Photo by Erik Smith

Gonzaga will find out whether it'll have Tyon Grant-Foster on its roster just before it tips off its second exhibition game of the season on Monday.

Shortly after a federal court rejected the NCAA's effort to move Grant-Foster's case from state court, reports surfaced Friday morning that a preliminary injunction hearing regarding the Grand Canyon transfer's eligibility status will take place in Spokane County Court at 2:30 p.m., according to KREM's Andrew Quinn. The Bulldogs are set to host Western Oregon, a Division II school located in Monmouth, Oregon, in an exhibition contest later that same day at 6 p.m.

The hearing will determine whether the 25-year-old can play for the Zags this season. If Judge Marla Polin grants an injunction, Grant-Foster would be able to suit up in time for the regular season opener on Nov. 3.

The timing of Monday's hearing is crucial for another reason: the deadline for schools to honor athletic scholarships for winter sports is Oct. 28. Grant-Foster's case was supposed to be heard in a Spokane County court this past Thursday, but the NCAA filed a motion on Wednesday to move the hearing to a federal court.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice denied the NCAA's motion and remanded the case back to Spokane County Superior Court on Friday, setting up an intriguing hearing on Monday that could see Grant-Foster go from ineligible to Gonzaga's layup line, in uniform, in a span of a few hours. The motion was rejected after the court found that there is no federal jurisdiction over Grant-Foster's case.

Gonzaga submitted the initial waiver request for Grant-Foster's eligibility in June — only to have it denied less than three weeks later. A request for reconsideration was made on July 17 and was rejected in September. The most recent appeal, made on Sept. 25, was denied earlier in October.

Grant-Foster, who committed to Gonzaga in May after spending two seasons at Grand Canyon, began his collegiate career in 2018 with Indian Hills Community College (Iowa). He played 22 games during the 2021-21 season with Kansas, then transferred to DePaul ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

"It's been hard on him, and it's something he's really struggling with mentally, and rightfully so," said Gonzaga assistant coach Brian Michaelson on the Locked On Zags podcast during West Coast Conference media day in Las Vegas. "Our biggest thing as a staff, and I know his teammates have done an unbelievable job of this, is being there to support him ... it's been really cool to see his teammates step up to that challenge. It's not easy on them either; they are worried about him personally, but there's also uncertainty on what it looks like for our team."