By JOHN RABY and AARON BEARD (AP Sports Writers)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A federal lawsuit filed by a group of states that includes Colorado alleges the NCAA’s transfer rule for college athletes violates antitrust law.
The lawsuit, filed in West Virginia’s northern district, challenges the NCAA’s authority to impose a one-year delay in the eligibility of certain athletes who transfer between schools. The suit said the rule “unjustifiably restrains the ability of these college athletes to engage in the market for their labor as NCAA Division I college athletes.”
The lawsuit filed by West Virginia and six other states alleges violations of the Sherman Act. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, and he released a statement Thursday afternoon in the wake of it being filed.
“The spirit of athletic competition at the heart of college sports is undermined by this rule, which is another in a long line of NCAA policies that courts have overturned for harming the rights of athletes to develop freely and fairly,” Weiser said in the statement. “By restricting mobility of athletes, the NCAA is adversely hindering student athletes from finding the best opportunities for themselves. We support having all of our Colorado higher education institutions to be able to recruit and build their best possible teams without the transfer restrictions.”
NCAA rules allow underclassmen to transfer once without having to sit out a year. But an additional transfer as an undergraduate generally requires the NCAA to grant a waiver allowing the athlete to compete immediately. Without it, the athlete would have to sit out for a year at the new school.
The NCAA this year has implemented stricter guidelines for granting those waivers, reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
NCAA spokeswoman Michelle Hosick didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday afternoon.
In an interview with The Associated Press, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said the target is the waiver process.
“As long as the kid is in good academic standing and on track to graduate, that kid should be able to decide for him or herself what’s in their best interest, for their personal growth, their happiness, their economic opportunity,” Stein said. “That is absolutely the American Way. And that’s a requirement of federal law. The rule offends that requirement.”
The states seek a temporary restraining order against the NCAA from enforcing the transfer rule. Other states involved in the lawsuit are Illinois, New York, Ohio and Tennessee.
The complaint alleges requiring athletes to sit can mean the loss of potential earnings from endorsement deals with their name, image and likeness (NIL) or even professional careers. It points to exposure from competing in national broadcasts, noting: “One game can take a college athlete from a local fan favorite to a household name.”
“It is ironic that this rule, stylized as promoting the welfare of college athletes, strips them of the agency and opportunity to optimize their own welfare as they see fit,” the lawsuit said.
Stein, a Democrat running for governor in North Carolina, got involved in the recent transfer-waiver case involving Tar Heels receiver Devontez “Tez” Walker.
The NCAA initially denied the Kent State transfer’s waiver as a two-time transfer after his stop at North Carolina Central, even though he never played there because the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 season. UNC fought for months to get Walker on the field in a testy case before the NCAA reversed its position in October.
Stein had also sent a letter on behalf of Wake Forest men’s basketball player Efton Reid III, who had started his career at LSU before transferring to Gonzaga. The 7-footer finally received a waiver to play Tuesday and made his season debut in the Demon Deacons’ win against Rutgers on Wednesday.
Stein told the AP the lawsuit grew out of a national conference in Washington, D.C., this week for attorneys general. Stein participated in a panel discussion on the NCAA there with Colorado AG Phil Weiser, Ohio AG Dave Yost and Ohio Deputy First Attorney General Shawn Busken.
“I have not heard from any other institutions, but I know that other student-athletes in North Carolina are similarly being denied the opportunity to play,” Stein said. “So rather than continue to do case-by-case, we decided let’s strike the rule down, because the rule itself is illegal.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican running for governor next year, got involved after the NCAA denied West Virginia basketball player RaeQuan Battle a waiver to play immediately following his transfer from Montana State. Battle had previously played at Washington, but he hasn’t played this year after the NCAA denied Battle’s waiver and appeal.
Battle, who grew up on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in the state of Washington, said his mental health is a big reason why he’s at West Virginia. Battle said in a recent video that he has lost “countless people” to drugs, alcohol and COVID-19.
After Battle visited West Virginia, he learned that now-coach Josh Eilert had lived on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota with his mother following his parents’ divorce.
Battle’s coach at Montana State, Danny Sprinkle, left for Utah State after the 2022-23 season. Battle said Sprinkle was one of his main pillars of support and guidance, so staying at Montana State wasn’t an option. And although Battle would have kept his eligibility had he followed Sprinkle, Battle said his graduation date would have been significantly delayed.
Morrisey said in a statement that the NCAA “failed to recognize the underlying issues involving RaeQuan and many other student athletes in similar situations — there’s no reason for the NCAA to deny this young man the ability to play the sport he loves and that helps him with his mental health.”
The lawsuit also cited mental health issues in the transfer cases of Southern Illinois basketball player Jarrett Hensley and Southern Illinois football player Noah Fenske. Hensley previously attended UNC Greensboro and Cincinnati, while Fenske also attended Iowa and Colorado.
The Denver Post contributed to this report.
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