Big 12's Brett Yormark rides fine line supporting NCAA — and five-for-five plaintiffs

That's even though Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark expressed support for the NCAA and its proposed Protect Sports Act during his media address at the Big 12 media days Tuesday inside the T-Mobile Center.

“I will tell you that we as a conference support the NCAA age-based eligibility model,” Yormark said. “We voted in favor of it. That being said, I respect the decision making of student-athletes, and I respect the decisions of local courts as well. There is a balancing act there for sure.”

When asked why athletes aren’t at the front of discussions about eligibility and legal challenges, Yormark said he was also a “huge advocate of the student-athlete” voice, and welcomes it.

But, after beginning his talk by saluting sponsors and advising media to “make sure you get your customized coffee,” Yormark began his dive into current news events by saluting the NCAA and president Charlie Baker — even as the organization has made it clear throughout an array of legal challenges that it does not support athletes who graduated high school in 2022 from playing an additional season.

The NCAA’s new five-on-five rule allows athletes a five-year window to play starting from their high school graduation or 19th birthday but has maintained that 2022 graduates are subject to the old rules and thus ineligible if they have played four years already.

Godfrey, a 2022 high school graduate from Suwanee, Georgia, who played three seasons at Clemson and another at Georgia, is a plaintiff in a Georgia lawsuit pressing for a fifth season.

The PCSA, which has passed the Senate but the House has not voted on it yet, could codify the exclusion of 2022 high school graduates from playing a fifth season in 2026-27.

“While college athletics continues to evolve, our priorities remain the same: put student athletes first, preserve fairness, and create greater stability. I'm encouraged by the progress of the Protect College Sports Act,” Yormark said. “This is the closest we've ever been to passing meaningful legislation, and I look forward to working with lawmakers as the process advances to the House.”

Yormark also said the College Sports Commission, which oversees NIL clearinghouses, “has continued to evolve and improve,” while he also commended Baker and the NCAA for their leadership on expanding the NCAA Tournament (to 76 teams) as well as its age-based eligibility rule.

In August, the Big 12 also implemented a ban on professional athletes from playing in the conference, a rule that, as written, appeared to have potential to hit the Wildcats hard because they have recruited European pros. However, Yormark and Big 12 Chief Basketball Officer Brian Thornton clarified that the rule only affects players who leave college sports to sign professional contracts in the NBA or overseas and then try to come back to the Big 12.

Thornton said the conference will continue to not interfere with how the NCAA clears players initially; the NCAA typically allows eligibility for players whose pre-college salaries did not exceed cost of living allowances.

“We allow the NCAA to dictate the pre-enrollment space,” Thornton said. “Obviously, there's certainly a lot of continued conversation about how that will look in the future as the professional model continues to blend with the collegiate model. But we allow the NCAA to handle that.

"We feel like we've been pretty straightforward in not having student athletes (return) if they have played professionally or have signed professional contracts."

Meanwhile, after Yormark’s briefing, Thornton confirmed to the Star that the Big 12 would not bring back the glass floor it introduced during the conference tournament last season.

The glass floor, which featured ever-changing graphics and advertising via embedded lights, was swapped out for a standard wood floor before the semifinals after players and coaches complained about its lack of grip.

“We do think that the grass floor concept is still a wave of the future,” Thornton said. “When you think about the technology, it has to continue to evolve. Volleyball plays on Taraflex (a synthetic surface); they don't play on wood because it continues to evolve.

“When we were growing up, all of our phones were attached to the wall. Now, we have computers in our hands, so we certainly think (there can be) an interactive floor. But it has to be it has to be sound. It has to work extremely well, and I think eventually, it'll end up being a better floor than wood. But for this year, we're going to play on the wood floor.”

In addition, Thornton also said the conference’s possible move back to 20 games from 18 is still an “ongoing conversation.” At the Big 12’s spring meeting in May, Thornton acknowledged the conference has been considering a return to 20, the number it played in 2024-25, in order to provide conference media partners more prime inventory at a time when teams are now allowed to schedule one additional game starting this season.

However, UA coach Tommy Lloyd indicated during the meetings that conference coaches have a consensus to stay at 18, allowing them to schedule up to 14 other games for nonconference competition.

“It’s something we’re constantly talking about,” Thornton said.

Around Yormark’s appearance on the main stage at T-Mobile Center, the Big 12 began mixing in representatives from its men’s and women’s programs, featuring ASU, Colorado, Baylor and Texas Tech during the Tuesday morning session.

While the ASU women’s program is coming off a 10-win improvement from 2024-25, going 24-11 overall and 9-9 in the Big 12, the Sun Devil men are aiming for a similar improvement under new coach Randy Bennett.

The head coach at Saint Mary’s for a quarter century before returning to his Phoenix-area roots, Bennett offered a pretty clear reason why he made the move.

“There were other factors that were on my mind — all positive, by the way — but I grew up in Mesa … so I grew up as a Sun Devil,” Bennett said. “That's who I rooted for. I knew which team in the state that I was rooting for the whole time, and how many guys get a chance to coach in their hometown at the big school? I've always thought it can be a great job, and I still think it can be.”

Earlier, ASU women’s basketball coach Molly Miller spoke of the Sun Devils’ transformation. They are picked to finish sixth this season, while the UA women were picked 13th.

“We want to be the team that nobody wants to play,” Miller said. “Like going to the dentist. With relentless defensive effort.”

The Arizona men’s and women’s teams are scheduled to take the main stage on Wednesday, with the women scheduled for 7 a.m. and men at 8:20 a.m. Main stage interviews will be streamed on ESPN Plus.