NCAA responds to Mantas Rubštavicius’ motion for TRO and preliminary injunction
It was a busy day of court filings at the Lee County Justice Center yesterday in the case of Mantas Rubštavičius v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Last week, the Auburn wing filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and asked a Lee County Circuit Judge to enter a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the NCAA that would make him eligible to play basketball for Auburn University this season.
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After a hearing on the TRO on Friday, Circuit Judge Jeffrey G. Tickal ordered both parties to submit briefs by yesterday, October 20, 2026. Tickal indicated he would rule on the TRO before Thursday of this week, which is the date that Auburn plays Alabama in its second exhibition game. That changed yesterday.
Attorney Joshua Jackson of Opelika, who is representing Rubštavičius, filed a motion to extend the time for him to file a supplemental brief, “in order to obtain confirmatory documentation regarding relevant issues in this cause.” The motion did not indicate what the “confirmatory documentation” was or what issue in the case it was related to.
Judge Tickal granted that motion yesterday and gave Jackson until this Friday to file the brief. He also gave the NCAA until next Tuesday, October 27, 2026 to file a response to the brief.
The NCAA also filed its initial response to Rubštavičius’ motions yesterday. Their 35 page response, accompanied by hundreds of pages of exhibits, claimed that its determination that Rubštavičius was ineligible to participate for Auburn was supported by the facts and consistent with its guidelines. The response, which has been reviewed by Auburn Undercover, also claimed that Rubštavičius’ was attempting to place “his own judgment for the NCAA’s in terms of how its governing rules should be applied.”
The NCAA’s position is that Rubštavičius is not eligible because he has already competed for four seasons overseas, after a one year grace period following high school graduation. Rubštavičius has argured that one of the seasons, 2022-2023, falls under an exception where the student athlete competes in “organized national/international competition.”
Rubštavičius did, in fact, play for his national team after competing in numerous events that operated as tryouts for the team. Rubštavičius and Auburn University submitted documentation which verified his participation in those events.
The NCAA responded yesterday that it had revised the documentation required for the athlete to fall under the expection and had narrowed it. They claimed the narrowing of the exception was necessary because it, “was being stretched beyond its narrow, member-legislated purpose.” The NCAA also stated that its actions were necessary to protect high school athletes from competing against much older professionals.
Rubštavičius has claimed this change was arbitrary and should not apply to him, and that he was relying on the exception to be interpreted as it had been previously. His second argument is that the NCAA changed its rules on obtaining a waiver for eligibility on May 8, 2026. That was after Rubštavičius had already signed financial aid and revenue sharing paperwork with Auburn University.
The NCAA responded to that argument yesterday as well. The association claimed that it routinely updates its guidelines to meet current issues regarding eligibilty of international athletes. It also argued that it has every right to apply the new guidelines to Rubštavičius.
The timing for an expected ruling on the TRO is unknown at this point, but would presumably be after all the briefs are filed next week. As of this writing, a hearing on Rubštavičius’ motion for a preliminary injunction is still set for November 4, 2026.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
