Oklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke granted extra year of eligibility

The Oklahoma Sooners are getting one of their better defensive players back in the building for the upcoming season, thanks to a favorable ruling on Thursday.

A district court judge has granted linebacker Owen Heinecke a preliminary injunction, handing the former walk-on an additional year of eligibility in 2026. Heinecke had a breakout season in 2025, with 74 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and three sacks.

Over the past several weeks, Heinecke has been preparing for the NFL draft, but has maintained that he is still weighing the pros and cons of making a leap to the NFL level versus taking legal action against the NCAA to try to stay in Norman for another season.

On Thursday, Judge Thad Balkman ruled that the NCAA failed to consider the totality of Heinecke's case surrounding his freshman season with the Ohio State Buckeyes' lacrosse program in 2021 and granted an injunction that will give Heinecke one more year to play at Oklahoma.

Heinecke was named an All-SEC linebacker last year. In his three-year career at Oklahoma, Heinecke has a total of 85 tackles. The senior began his college career playing lacrosse at Ohio State in 2021, and appeared in just three games for the Buckeyes before deciding to transfer to Oklahoma, where he became a walk-on linebacker in 2022. Heinecke did not play in 2022 but was a full-time special-teams player in 2023 and 2024 before finding a role on defense in 2025.

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