Judge Tosses NCAA Rule Preventing College Baseball Players From Hiring Advisors During Negotiations

In a potentially far-reaching decision, Ohio Judge Tygh Tone ruled in favor of Andrew Oliver against the NCAA. The legal impact of this ruling may allow college (and high school) baseball players to be represented by legal counsel when negotiating contracts with professional teams.

Here's the background. Andrew is a pitcher for Oklahoma State University who was ruled ineligible to play because the NCAA claimed that he had violated their "no agent" rule. Specifically, the NCAA said that Andrew's advisors listened in on contract negotiations between Andrew and the Minnesota Twins in 2006 after he was drafted out of high school. (Andrew decided to take a full scholarship to OSU rather than sign with the Twins at that time.)

Under current NCAA Bylaw 12.3.2, players are allowed to have attorneys or advisors, so long as they do not have direct contact with professional clubs. Judge Tone's ruling stated that the NCAA should not restrict a player's right to have legal help when negotiating a contract for both legal reasons and reasons of public policy.

The legal reason that the NCAA should not restrict a player's right to have legal help is because the right to legal counsel is subject to the exclusive regulation of the [State] Supreme Court. Judge Tone also reasoned that as a matter of public policy, allowing players to hire a lawyer but prohibiting them from negotiating contracts is impossible to enforce and allows for players to be exploited. Accordingly, he labeled the ban "arbitrary and capricious." This term is important as the NCAA is technically an organization of voluntary members, and in order for its rules to be invalidated, they must be "arbitrary and capricious."

The judge concludes that "no entity, other than one designated by the state, can dictate to an attorney where, what, how or when he should represent his client." This includes the NCAA, regardless of their reason for having the rule.

As a separate matter relating to this case, the judge sternly criticized the NCAA for effectively refusing to let Andrew play by threatening financial punishment upon OSU if they complied with the injunction to let Andrew play.

This is not the final word, however, as the NCAA has stated that they are unhappy with the ruling and will likely appeal. If the ruling stands, it will likely require a change in how the NCAA handles eligibility rules for other sports as well.