Gonzaga's Chauncey Wiggins wins injunction, set to debut Saturday against LSU

Gonzaga forward Chauncey Wiggins is set to make his debut for the 14th-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday against LSU after Spokane Superior Court Judge Dean Chuang granted the 6-foot-11 transfer a temporary injunction Thursday afternoon, a ruling that allows him to suit up this season and signals the likely end of a winding eligibility fight.

Tipoff against LSU is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at Numerica Veterans Arena, only a few hundred yards from the fourth-floor courtroom where Wiggins' hearing took place. The forward missed Gonzaga's season-opening wins over Purdue and New Mexico State last week while ineligible.

Wiggins, 21, kept a neutral expression for more than an hour before the decision sank in. 'Really just took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, God," about 20 times,' he said, adding: 'I had a lot of faith, a lot of positivity. That's how I live my life.'

More than two dozen people attended the hearing, including Gonzaga coach Mark Few and teammates Braden Huff, Davis Fogle, Xaivian Lee, Javon Bennett, Parker Jefferson and Alonzo Metz. Wiggins had not been scheduled in court until next Tuesday, but his attorneys filed a motion to shorten time, moving the hearing up five days with the LSU game in mind.

Wiggins played three seasons at Clemson and spent the 2025-26 season at Florida State before joining the Boston Celtics at NBA Summer League. He never signed a professional contract, leaving him free to pursue a fifth college season under the NCAA's new 5-in-5 eligibility model, the basis of lawsuits filed by dozens of athletes across different states and sports, including Lee and Bennett.

His first attempt came in his home state of Georgia in the Godfrey v. NCAA case, originally filed by former Clemson teammate and current Arizona forward RJ Godfrey. A Cobb County judge granted an injunction, but the Court of Appeals stayed the case, and with oral arguments set for Jan. 12, 2027, Wiggins stood to miss Gonzaga's first 15 games. He switched to the Wheeler v. NCAA lawsuit in Waco, Texas, but a McLennan County judge ruled the new plaintiffs lacked personal jurisdiction and denied a restraining order one day after the Nov. 2 opener against Purdue.

That brought the case to Spokane. Chuang, a Gonzaga Law graduate, heard Zoom arguments from Wiggins' attorney, Ryan Downton of the Texas Trial Group, and NCAA attorneys David Zeitlin and Taylor Askew. Downton argued the NCAA Manual's bylaw does not explicitly exclude class of 2022 high school graduates from the 5-in-5 model, leaving, in his words, 'unambiguous text that makes Mr. Wiggins eligible.'

Askew countered that 'everybody has to be operating under the same set of standards' and cited North Carolina's women's field hockey team, which won three of its last four games and reached the NCAA Tournament after three fifth-year players received midseason injunctions, bumping ACC rival Wake Forest from the bracket. 'That's not fair,' Askew said.

After 50 minutes of arguments and a 15-minute intermission, Chuang issued the injunction. Because of a shortage of judicial officers, the trial cannot be scheduled until May 10, 2027, at least a month after the season ends, and the judge barred the NCAA from enforcing the rule of restitution, so Gonzaga cannot later be stripped of victories or postseason awards while Wiggins plays.

Wiggins, who has practiced with the team since arriving in Spokane two months ago, gives the Bulldogs a proven shooter: he made 72 three-pointers at Florida State last season, 24 more than any current Zag, shot 38.7% from behind the arc and averaged 13.3 points per game. His Clemson teams went a combined 74-30 from 2022-25, and Florida State finished 18-15 in coach Luke Loucks' first season before declining an NIT invitation. 'I transferred here for a reason, to win,' Wiggins said. 'I'm just ready to play Saturday and play for the rest of the year.'