Louis Moore receives good news from judge, keeps eligibility hopes alive

In Louis Moore’s fight to receive another year of eligibility for the 2025 season, he and the Hoosiers received good news Wednesday.

In Dallas County court, Judge Dale Tillery granted the Indiana safety a temporary restraining order in his case against the NCAA, allowing him to continue practicing with the Hoosiers until an Aug. 27 hearing where a decision regarding his eligibility will ultimately be made.

The two sides (Moore’s attorney Brian P. Lauten and the NCAA’s attorney Taylor Askew) were ordered to proceed with mediation leading up to the hearing date, meaning that negotiations will continue over the course of the next week.

In the decision made by Judge Tillery, he wrote “This Court further finds that there is evidence that Moore will be harmed irreparably if he is not able to join the team for practice on Aug. 25, 2025, because Indiana will not be able to guarantee Moore’s place on the team’s roster for the 2025-26 season and therefore deprive Moore of the opportunity to play Division I college football.”

Moore has momentarily been deemed eligible, however the negotiations to follow — plus the hearing two weeks from Wednesday’s ruling — will ultimately determine if the safety is able to play for Indiana during the 2025 campaign.

Moore previously suited up in the cream and crimson in both 2022 and 2023 for the Tom Allen-led Hoosiers. He then transferred to Ole Miss upon Allen’s firing, spending 2024 with the Rebels before deciding to rejoin his old team under Curt Cignetti.

The entire case revolves around Moore’s time leading up to his first stint at Indiana. He played at Navarro College, a JUCO, from 2019-2021. Moore redshirted in 2019. Then, due to COVID-19 during the 2020 season, all players were allowed to play without it factoring into their eligibility. Moore played at Navarro in 2021, which is the year of eligibility that is being contested.

Moore and his attorney argue that his 2021 JUCO season shouldn’t count, while the NCAA argues that it should be included in the “five years to play four seasons” philosophy. Moore’s initial waiver was denied, which led to the ongoing legal action with Moore arguing that a lost season of eligibility will result in lost NIL compensation.

While Wednesday resulted in good news for Moore and Indiana, the end goal is that Moore is eventully granted an extra year of eligibility to play for Indiana in 2025. If not, his college career would be over.

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