Sports 31 May 2024

NCAA agrees to end transfer rule in antitrust lawsuit settlement

By Jon Styf
The Center Square

The NCAA agreed to end its transfer rule requiring athletes who transfer a second time to sit out a year in a deal with the 10 states and District of Columbia that sued over the rule.

The proposed lawsuit settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey.

The settlement requires the NCAA to not retaliate against schools that protested the rule or reward those that followed it, requires the NCAA to grant an added year of eligibility to any athlete who lost a year due to the rule since 2019-2020 and prevents the NCAA from taking future actions to circumvent the proposed settlement.

“We’ve leveled the playing field for college athletes to allow them to better control their destinies,” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. “This long-term change is exactly what we set out to accomplish.”

The antitrust lawsuit is led by Ohio with West Virginia serving as local counsel in the case along with Tennessee, North Carolina, Illinois, Colorado, Minnesota, Mississippi New York, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

The lawsuit alleged that the NCAA rule goes against Section 1 of the Sherman Act by artificially deterring athletes from reaching their full name, image and likeness earning potential.

The case is in West Virginia federal court with West Virginia initially joining the case after the NCAA denied RaeQuan Battle a transfer waiver so he could play basketball for West Virginia University.

“This a great victory for not only RaeQuan, but for all student-athletes burdened by the flawed NCAA transfer rule,” said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. “The NCAA needs to enact consistent, logical and defensible rules that are fair and equitable for everyone.”

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