What NCAA's Latest Court Victory Could Mean for 3 Southern Miss Football Veterans

HATTIESBURG, Miss. –– Just days after Southern Miss welcomed three veteran football players back for unexpected fifth seasons, the legal ruling that helped open the door for their returns has encountered a potentially significant setback.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NCAA a stay of a federal judge's July 31 order allowing athletes who began college during the 2022-23 academic year and played four consecutive seasons to compete for a fifth year, according to multiple reports. This development could have implications for Southern Miss offensive linemen Aloali'i Maui, Greg Nunnery Jr. and defensive lineman Jameer Lewis, all three of whom recently returned to the Golden Eagles following the initial eligibility ruling.

What It Could Mean for Southern Miss Football

Southern Miss Football, Greg Nunnery Jr. — Southern Miss offensive lineman Greg Nunnery Jr. in action during the 2025 season. | Southern Miss Athletics

What Friday's decision means specifically for the three Golden Eagle veterans remains to be seen. The appeals court's stay does not affect athletes who separately sued the NCAA and received individual or state-court restraining orders. But if Southern Miss' trio was relying solely on the blanket injunction issued in Wisne v. NCAA, the legal protection allowing them to return could now be in jeopardy.

Here is a look at the timeline of events that have unfolded during this eligibility saga:

NCAA Eligibility / Southern Miss Returnees Timeline
- NCAA adopts the new five-seasons-in-five-years framework
- NCAA rules in June that it wouldn't retroactively apply to outgoing seniors such as this 2022 class
- Players sue
- July 31: federal judge grants the 2022 class a blanket injunction, opening the door for players like Southern Miss' three veterans to return.
- Southern Miss brings Maui, Lewis and Nunnery back into the program.
- Aug. 21: appeals court stays that injunction
- Now the eligibility question is unresolved again while litigation continues.

For Southern Miss, the timing of this latest court ruling is inconvenient, and that's putting it nicely. Head coach Blake Anderson and his staff have already begun working the three veterans back into the program, as the season opener against Alcorn State approaches.

Southern Miss Football, Aloali'i Maui — Southern Miss offensive lineman Aloali'i Maui (#62) was a key part of the Golden Eagles' offense in 2025. | Southern Miss Athletics

Maui and Nunnery add experience to an offensive line that has been shuffling ever since fall camp started. Losing those two would especially hurt, considering that redshirt senior offensive lineman Brock Roman recently medically retired. Lewis is expected to impact the defensive front as well with his explosiveness. Although he wasn't with the team for most of the summer, Lewis appeared to be in excellent shape and didn't skip a beat getting back into action last week.

For now, it will be a waiting game to see how all of this plays out. We'll see if any of those three players participate in the Golden Eagles' Fan Fest scrimmage on Saturday at 11 a.m., but it appears they are now ineligible.

Southern Miss thought it had received an unexpected late-summer depth boost, but now the Golden Eagles will have to wait and see whether that boost survives another round in court. What a tangled web the NCAA has woven.

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