Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

NCAA Rules Take Another Shot From Cali Judge

EUREKA, Calif. (CN) - Already on the defensive over its player contracts, the NCAA took another hit as a judge overturned the ineligibility of a Humboldt State wide receiver and allowed him to play.

"Yes!" exclaimed Marquise Deadwiler on Friday, when Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Bruce Watson granted the temporary order in his favor.

Deadwiler and his lawyer had filed a complaint and request for the court order earlier in the week, asking that he be allowed to play until the court considers his eligibility on the merits.

Deadwiler has been waiting a year to play due to a mixup with college credits.

The decision in Humboldt followed by a few weeks the ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco overturning NCAA restrictions on payments to players for use of their name and images.

Last year, the NCAA deemed 17 Humboldt State student athletes ineligible because they had not taken 24 units toward their major the previous school year.

Humboldt State officials said they were not aware of the NCAA rule, which took effect in the 1990s, and had not advised student athletes appropriately, according to the university's newspaper, The Lumberjack.

Most of the students the NCAA had deemed ineligible took summer school and were able to play the 2013-2014 season, according to The Lumberjack.

Deadwiler took summer school, too, but his course turned out to be on the quarter system not the semester system, making his credits just short, the paper reported.

NCAA rules say a student can play for 10 semesters, and the time begins running when a student signs up for a full load of classes. Deadwiler signed up for a full load of classes in fall 2013 before he found he was still deemed ineligible.

Under the Friday ruling, Deadwiler can play with the Jacks pending a full hearing on the eligibility issues, whose date has yet to be set.

Deadwiler missed the Sept. 6 season opener, which the Jacks rallied from an 11-point deficit and scored 24 unanswered points to beat Texas A&M-Kingsville, 27-14.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...