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Former Duke football players Ryan Smith and
Tre'Shon Devones are plaintiffs in one of the complaints filed
in Durham County Superior Court on April 3, while former UNC
player J.J. Jones and former Duke player Cam Bergeron are
plaintiffs in a similar lawsuit filed the same day. Their
complaints seek to prevent the NCAA from following its
longstanding policy of having athletes complete four years of
eligibility within a five-year window.
Their cases are now set for April 22 in North Carolina Business
Court.
Specifically, the athletes point to lost potential earnings —
$100,000 to $500,000, according to the lawsuits — from rules
allowing athletes to profit from their fame through activities
utilizing their name, image and likeness (NIL).
The complaints allege the NCAA and member schools “have entered
into an illegal agreement to restrain and suppress competition”
while also saying the waiver process allowing exemptions to its
five-year rule is enforced “arbitrarily,” and that the process
has denied them the ability to reach their “full potential.”
In February, former N.C. State football player Corey Coley Jr.
filed a lawsuit with a similar argument in U.S. District Court
in North Carolina.
“The NCAA stands by its eligibility rules, including the
five-year rule, which enable student-athletes and schools to
have fair competition and ensure broad access to the unique and
life-changing opportunity to be a student-athlete,” the NCAA
said in a statement. "The NCAA is making changes to modernize
college sports but attempts to alter the enforcement of
foundational eligibility rules – approved and supported by
membership leaders – makes a shifting environment even more
unsettled.”
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