College Sports Law Blog

In 2008, Patrick Edwards, a wide receiver for the University of Houston, badly injured his leg when he ran into a metal cart that was placed just beyond the end zone during a conference game at Marshall University.  Edwards filed suit against Marshall University, Conference USA, and a referee involved in the game.  The lawsuit was recently confidentially settled. 

Over the last ten days, the motorcycle accident involving former University of Arkansas (“UA”) Head Football Bobby Petrino and a companion has dominated sports-related media.  The story culminated with the dismissal of Bobby Petrino earlier this week.  UA Athletics Director Jeff Long was placed in an awkward position.  He was forced to allow a coach to openly and publicly defy his trust or terminate a coach who has brought UA back to national prominence.  After reviewing the facts and information, Jeff Long decided to terminate Bobby Petrino with cause, which means Bobby Petrino will not be afforded the $18 million identified as liquidated damages in his contract.

Following another profitable and exciting NCAA basketball tournament, the annual question was raised yet again:  What can the NCAA do to stop student-athletes from leaving school after only one year?  Unfortunately, the answer is not much from a legal perspective.

On June 22, 2010, ESPN made a public records request seeking information relating to conference realignment, which the University of Texas (“Texas”) denied access to portions of the request.  Texas denied portions of the request by stating William Powers, Texas President and former Big 12 Conference chairman, was acting only in his capacity as a chairman of the Big 12 board of directors and certain documents were subject to attorney-client privilege exempting the documents from disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act.  The primary document at issue was a memorandum that discussed the financial implications of conference realignment.  After reviewing the memorandum and pleadings before the Court, a Travis County (Austin) District Court Judge ruled in favor of Texas’ Motion for Summary Judgment thereby essentially concluding the lawsuit and withholding the financial analysis relating to conference realignment.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions (“Committee”) recently issued its findings and found that the University of North Carolina (“UNC”) committed major violations of NCAA legislation.  The violations in this case fell into three categories: 1) a former tutor committing academic fraud with student-athletes and providing impermissible benefits to student-athletes; 2) the provision of impermissible benefits to student-athletes by various individuals, including sports agents and their associates; and 3) unethical conduct by the former assistant coach.

The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee (“Committee”) recently reviewed and affirmed the Committee on Infractions’ (“COI”) decision relating to the Georgia Institution of Technology (“GT”).

Adam Lopiccolo was a wrestling student-athlete at American University (“AU”).  Lopiccolo claimed he was recruited and offered a full scholarship by former wrestling coach, Mark Cody, but was ultimately awarded a partial scholarship.  Once Lopiccolo arrived on campus, he described mistreatment and multiple threats including threats relating to the loss of his scholarship.  He even described a situation where he was forced to continue practice despite a large cut on his leg that ultimately became infected and led to a staph infection.  In January 2007, Lopiccolo missed several days of practice due to the flu.  When he returned to practice, he was informed that his scholarship was being revoked.  Lopiccolo unsuccessfully appealed the decision within the university.  After his unsuccessful appeal, he filed suit in federal court in the District of Columbia.

On March 16, 2012 beginning at 8:45 a.m., the University of Virginia School of Law will be hosting a sports law symposium discussing The State of Sports Law.  I will be speaking on the panel.  If you are in the area, please stop by for a discussion on many hot topics relating to sports law.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions (“Committee”) recently issued its findings and found that Radford University (“RU”) committed major violations of NCAA legislation.  The underlying infractions centered on recruiting and extra-benefit violations committed by one current and four former coaches, primarily in the provision of impermissible transportation, lodging, and meals.  The majority of these violations occurred in the men’s basketball program with a limited number involving the men’s tennis program.  Although the original, underlying violations were major, they were exacerbated by efforts made by members of the men’s basketball staff, led by the then head men’s basketball coach to conceal some of the violations from the institution and the NCAA.  As a result of these acts, the head basketball coach and three other members of the men’s basketball staff were found to have engaged in unethical conduct, including the provision of false and misleading information and failing to protect the integrity of the investigation.  Further, the head basketball coach was also found to have failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance.

On March 2, 2012 at 1:00 p.m., the University of Mississippi School of Law will be hosting a sports law symposium discussing the Bowl Championship Series and Conference Realignment.  I will be speaking on the panel.  If you are in the area, please stop by for a discussion on these hot topics.

For any questions, feel free to contact Christian Dennie at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .