Wisconsin football CB Nyzier Fourqurean ruled ineligible for 2025 season
Wisconsin Badgers cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean has been ruled ineligible for the 2025 season after the NCAA won its appeal, leaving the secondary thin heading into fall camp.
What once felt like a guaranteed return has now flipped on its head. The University of Wisconsin football team suffered a significant blow when the NCAA won its appeal over senior cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean. That court ruling reversed the preliminary injunction that had allowed him to participate in spring practice and effectively ruled him ineligible for the 2025 football season.
Fourqurean, a former Division II All-American at Grand Valley State who played under Matt Mitchell, transferred to Madison in 2023 and quickly became a centerpiece in Wisconsin’s secondary. Across two seasons with the Badgers, he started 17 games and recorded 90 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, eight pass breakups, and one interception.
Notably, Fourqurean’s 2024 was his best yet. The Ohio native started all 12 games at cornerback, piling up 51 total tackles (third-most among Big Ten corners), 17 defensive stops, six pass deflections, and even grabbed his first interception in a Badgers uniform against Oregon.
But as of this week, his Wisconsin Badgers career appears to be over.
The NCAA’s victory comes after a 2-1 decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, overturning a district court ruling that had granted Fourqurean a preliminary injunction. That injunction, secured in February, centered on his challenge to the NCAA’s “Five-Year Rule,” which limits student-athletes to four seasons of eligibility within five calendar years.
Fourqurean’s legal team argued that the NCAA’s Five-Year Rule unfairly limited athletes’ ability to maximize their NIL earning potential, especially when their marketability is essentially at its peak. In court, Fourqurean pointed to his $45,000 in NIL deals from 2024 and believed returning in 2025 could have led to hundreds of thousands more.
He also argued that his freshman year at Grand Valley State, which COVID-19 wiped out, plus limited snaps in 2021 and personal hardship after his father’s death, should exempt him from the eligibility cap. While his lawyers pointed to comparable cases, such as Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, who won a similar fight, in the end, the NCAA’s appeal prevailed.
In a press release, the NCAA framed the court ruling as a matter of fairness and consistency, which college athletics has certainly lacked in recent years.
“The NCAA and its member schools strive to provide world-class athletics and academic experiences for student-athletes that foster lifelong well-being," the NCAA said. "The member-approved rules, including years of eligibility, are designed to help ensure competition is safe and fair, aligning collegiate academic and athletic careers to provide high-level opportunities and benefits to hundreds of thousands of student-athletes.
“We are thankful the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed the district court’s decision. Just as the NCAA and its member schools have always done, we will continue to work together to provide unparalleled opportunities for student-athletes and future generations.”
The legal fight isn’t entirely over. Fourqurean could theoretically continue his case in district court, but for now, Wisconsin has to face a tough reality: they just lost one of their best defensive players, weeks before fall camp opens.
A blow to the secondary
Fourqurean’s absence leaves a major hole in position coach Paul Haynes’ defensive back room. Not only was he a three-year starter across two programs, but he logged 1,105 snaps over his two seasons, including 652 last season, the most of any Wisconsin Badgers defensive back.