New York state judge grants St. John's Babacar Sane temporary restraining order, making him eligible, for now

A New York state judge granted St. John’s recruit Babacar Sane a temporary restraining order on Tuesday that makes him, at least for the moment, eligible to play in the 2026-27 season.

After Sane committed to coach Rick Pitino and the Red Storm in the spring, St. John’s applied to the NCAA to have him ruled eligible through a process called “reinstatement,” the procedure schools use for players that have had some professional experience.

Though the 6-8 forward played professionally in Germany last season, the NCAA took issue with him signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Utah Jazz and his experience with the G-League.

Sane played with G-League Ignite, a professional development team, for parts of two seasons between 2022 and 2024. He also competed in G-League games with the Salt Lake Stars and Iowa Wolves during the 2024-25 season. He signed the Exhibit 10 contract with Utah, but was waived by the team before training camp had even begun.

The NCAA denied the school’s application and ruled Sane ineligible on Aug. 13. St. John’s is appealing that decision.

Submitted to the court with the lawsuit is an affidavit from Pitino which reads in part: “What Babacar signed was not a contract to play for an NBA team in any sense a basketball person would recognize. I have never heard anyone in basketball call a player on one of these contracts an NBA player.”

Sane, 22, last week filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in a state Supreme Court in Queens. The lawsuit resulted in judge Karina Alomar granting him the TRO. She scheduled a full hearing on the matter for Oct. 1.

Sane’s lawsuit cites that the NCAA has been approving reinstatement applications for players with similar professional experience, including two of his former G-League Ignite teammates.

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.