Auburn lands commitment from Class of 2022 transfer guard granted fifth year of eligibility after injunction
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Auburn picked up a pledge on Thursday from a player awarded a fifth year after an injunction ruled that the NCAA’s age-based eligibility guidelines should apply to Class of 2022 student-athletes.
Kolby King, who appeared in 36 games and averaged 7.5 points across 19.2 minutes at Utah State in 2025-26, has committed to the Tigers, the Pompano Beach, Fla., product told On3’s Joe Tipton on Thursday evening.
Auburn will actually be King’s fifth program in as many seasons. He started his career at St. John’s in 2022-23 and averaged 7.7 minutes per game, but entered the transfer portal shortly after Rick Pitino replaced Mike Anderson. He then landed at Tulane, where he played in 31 games and started 23 times while averaging 10.4 ppg and 3.6 rpg. After a second trip to the portal, he played at Butler, posting 5.6 ppg in 18.9 mpg across 34 games.
It looked as if King’s fourth stop, Utah State, would be his last. But with a Colorado judge issuing an injunction that the NCAA’s “five-for-five” eligibility rule should apply to Class of 2022 players — despite the regulatory body refusing to apply the ruling retroactively — King’s winding road appears set to end in the SEC. He’ll join a Tigers program that went 22-16 and won the NIT in Steven Pearl’s first season.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
