Riley Gaines’ NCAA case fell on a funding technicality
On Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson of the Northern District of Georgia granted the NCAA summary judgment on the remaining Title IX claims brought by Riley Gaines and other female athletes1.
Gaines said, “Rest assured, we will be appealing this decision.”2Gaines says she hopes to take the case to the Supreme Court.3
For families with daughters in sports, this ruling is no vindication.
“Rest assured, we will be appealing this decision.”
The ruling did not decide whether the NCAA’s former transgender-athlete policy constituted sex discrimination. She decided that the evidence did not establish the NCAA as a recipient of federal financial assistance, which Title IX requires.
In September 2025, Judge Tiffany R. Johnson allowed the Title IX claims to proceed after finding the athletes plausibly alleged that the NCAA received federal assistance through a Defense Department concussion-research partnership. After limited discovery, she found the department's money went to Indiana University and other research participants rather than to the NCAA2. She also rejected theories that the NCAA got funds indirectly, controlled entities that did, or qualified through employee travel reimbursements4.
If a swimmer's claim turns on where research money landed, what protection does Title IX give her against the body that sets the rules of her sport?
- 2022NCAA championships at Georgia Tech that prompted the lawsuit
- February 2025NCAA changed its policy
- Monday, Sept. 28, 2026Johnson granted summary judgment.
The case grew out of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech. Lia Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle national title and used a women's locker room during the event1. Gaines tied Thomas for fifth in the 200-yard freestyle, and she and other female swimmers said they were required to share a locker room with Thomas4.
The NCAA changed its policy in February 2025, one day after President Trump signed his executive order keeping men out of women's sports. The new rule bars athletes assigned male at birth from women's teams, though they may still practice with them2. The policy moved when the White House moved1, not when the women filed suit in 20243.
Gaines is urging parents of daughters to carry school sports, parental rights and student privacy to the ballot box in November1.
The NCAA said it is “proud to continually invest in and expand women’s sports” and is “in full compliance with the Trump administration’s executive order on women’s sports.”1
ICONS co-founder Marshi Smith says the NCAA has made no promise to women that men will not be put back into women's sports. ICONS co-founder Kim Jones adds that the NCAA "is composed of the schools," and that it sets nationwide policy1.
A statement about the present leaves the women's question about the past unanswered.
The plaintiffs have 30 days to file a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit4. Gaines and ICONS say they will file, and ICONS predicts the appeals court will find the NCAA covered by Title IX2.
A federal judge in Massachusetts stayed a similar suit against the remaining defendants pending the outcome of Gaines’ case. Fairness for girls should not hang on a funding technicality. Gaines and ICONS plan to appeal; parents should know the ruling settled only whether Title IX reaches the NCAA, not whether its former policy treated female athletes fairly. Fairness for girls should not hang on a funding technicality, and in November parents can make that case at the ballot box1.
Sources
- Riley Gaines speaks out on dismissal of her lawsuit vs NCAA, hopes to take case to SCOTUS | OutKick
- Riley Gaines' lawsuit vs NCAA dismissed by Biden-appointed judge, appeal planned | OutKick
- NCAA transgender athlete lawsuit by Riley Gaines tossed by federal judge in Georgia: What to know
- Federal judge dismisses Riley Gaines' Title IX lawsuit against NCAA | Just The News
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