Credit: CofC Sports
College of Charleston graduate student Connor Hickman is now eligible to join the Cougars men’s basketball team after a Charleston County judge granted an emergency order Tuesday afternoon. The ruling allows Hickman, 23, to play immediately while the court considers his petition for an additional year of eligibility.
Hickman is expected to make his season debut today at 3 p.m. against the University of Massachusetts at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. He will remain eligible until a formal hearing scheduled for the week of Dec. 8, 2025. He is represented by The Peper Law Firm, PA, of Charleston, and Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick of Toledo, Ohio.
The order comes after the NCAA denied Hickman’s request for a medical hardship waiver earlier this month. Hickman began the 2024–25 season at the University of Cincinnati, starting seven of the Bearcats’ first eight games before suffering a foot injury prior to the ninth. A broken foot was diagnosed on Dec. 18, 2024. On the advice of UC’s medical staff, he attempted to play in four additional games, pushing him past the NCAA’s 10-game limit for a medical hardship.
According to the filing, Hickman was not informed surgery was an option until nearly two months after the injury. He underwent surgery on Feb. 18, 2025, performed by Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C. Believing he would qualify for the hardship waiver, Hickman transferred to the College of Charleston for his final season under Coach Chris Mack.
The NCAA denied the waiver Nov. 6, prompting Hickman to seek an emergency temporary restraining order on Nov. 17. The court found he is likely to succeed on the merits of his claims and that preventing him from playing would cause “irreparable harm.” Hickman has already missed the Cougars’ first five games, and the team is scheduled to play three more in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, this weekend before returning home to face Belmont on Nov. 30.
Lead attorney Mark A. Peper issued a statement calling the ruling a significant step for Hickman.
“Connor deserves this victory and is ecstatic to finally join his teammates on the court,” Peper said. “The adults in the room at UC failed him, as did the NCAA when given the chance to make it right. With the objective medical documentation presented to the judge, and with support from both athletic departments at Cincinnati and Charleston, we hope the NCAA will allow Connor to play without the need for further litigation.”
The order granting the emergency TRO is available at peperlawfirm.com/InTheNews.