The federal judge presiding over the case between the NCAA and seven attorneys general over its rules for athletes who transferred multiple times has extended a temporary restraining order prohibiting the association from enforcing those rules.

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey issued an order Monday that extended the temporary restraining order “until a full and final trial and decision on the merits.” He also clarified that the NCAA can’t take any action to retaliate against any student athletes who do participate during that time. There was some confusion when the original order was issued whether the suspension of the NCAA rules of restitution – that suspension is what prohibits NCAA retaliation – extended to the student-athlete or just stayed with the schools.

That will allow a pair of West Virginia University men’s basketball players, RaeQuan Battle and Noah Farrakhan, to play the rest of the 2023-24 season.

The seven AGs, including Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, had requested the extension to allow student-athletes affected by the original 14-day temporary restraining order to be able to play an entire season in their respective sports.

“This is a great day for student athletes. They will finally be able to compete in the sport they love,” Morrisey said in a release. “It’s the right thing to do and I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.”

The original temporary restraining order came from Bailey in a one-day hearing last week at the federal courthouse in Wheeling. Battle was among the student-athletes who testified that day. A Dec. 27 hearing on extending the order has been canceled.