Mitchell commits to UK after judge grants 5th year

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  Myron MedcalfAug 22, 2026, 08:20 PM ET

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  • Covers college basketball
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2011
  • Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato

Former Missouri star Mark Mitchell, who averaged 18.3 points per game and connected on nearly 39 percent of his 3-point attempts last season, has committed to play for Kentucky during the 2026-27 campaign, his agent, Brandon Mitchell of BAM Sports and Entertainment, told ESPN on Saturday.

Earlier this week, a Kentucky judge cleared Mitchell to play a fifth season of college basketball through a temporary restraining order that allowed him to transfer to another school. In June, Mitchell was not selected in the NBA draft, but he signed an Exhibit 10 contract to compete for the Denver Nuggets' Summer League squad.

Mitchell's case, which also included LSU commit and former UCLA standout Skyy Clark, is separate from the ruling on Friday by a federal judge in Colorado that barred athletes in the 2022 high school class from being grandfathered into the NCAA's new age-based eligibility window to compete next season. The federal case has no bearing on the state cases that have cleared others to play.

The NCAA, however, has vowed to fight all federal and state cases filed by those athletes seeking a fifth season, which means Mitchell's case could be appealed at some point and his eligibility could be rescinded, as was the case in the Colorado ruling for the athletes who'd sought eligibility through that channel. The TRO in Ohio was stayed, but the TRO in Tennessee was not; both cases were similar to the one that cleared Mitchell to play.

Mitchell's arrival will turn Kentucky into a legitimate Final Four contender only months after Mark Pope's offseason recruiting had been questioned. With former Iowa State star Milan Momcilovic, the top available player in the transfer portal, and Mitchell, the best available fifth-year player, on board, the Wildcats could compete for the SEC crown and more.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, according to court documents, opposed the return of Mitchell and others who'd signed professional contracts before signing with collegiate teams, citing "significant roster instability" as a potential consequence.

But after Friday's ruling in the federal case in Colorado, athletes around the country will pursue decisions in state courts to earn a fifth year of competition. They've won the vast majority of state cases that have been filed thus far.

In Mitchell's lawsuit, Kentucky Judge Brian Edwards noted as much in his ruling that the temporary restraining order "must be granted."

"Courts throughout the United States have consistently held in favor of student-athletes' rights in cases involving challenges to NCAA rules and regulations," he wrote in his opinion after granting the temporary restraining order. "Likewise, this Court cannot reconcile the NCAA's attempts to preclude the student-athletes involved in this action from attending the schools of their choice and competing for the same duration of time as their competitors with the NCAA's purported mission of supporting the right of student-athletes to compete against each other on a level playing field."