The State of Tennessee and the Commonwealth of Virginia filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA on Wednesday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti shared in a X post.
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) January 31, 2024
The lawsuit comes a day after Sports Illustrated and others reported that the NCAA was investigating Tennessee athletics due to NIL related violations. While the lawsuit is not directly attached to the investigation, it’s timing is no coincidence.
According to excerpts of the lawsuit shared by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Tennessee and Virginia are striking back against the NCAA’s attempt to not allow NIL collectives to negotiate with potential recruits and only communicate with athletes after they’ve signed their letter of intent with schools.
“This month, it (NCAA) announced new proposals related to ‘student athlete protections in NIL.’ These ‘protections’ allow current athletes to pursue NIL compensation. But it bans prospective college athletes (including current college athletes looking to transfer to another school who are in the ‘transfer portal’) from discussing potential NIL opportunities before they actually enroll. It’s like a coach looking for a new job, and freely talking to many different schools, but being unable to negotiate salary until after he’s picked one (the depressive effect on coaches’ wages in such a dysfunctional marker is obvious).”
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Both the University of Tennessee and NIL collective Spyre Sports responded to the NCAA’s newest investigation on Tuesday.
In an email to NCAA President Charlie Baker, Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman ripped the organization in a number of ways, calling them “morally wrong” and “intellectually dishonest” while echoing a number of the same sentiments the State of Tennessee’s lawsuit does.
“Any discussion about NIL might factor into a prospective student-athlete’s decision to attend an institution,” Plowman wrote according to ESPN. “This creates an inherently unworkable situation, and everyone knows it.”
Spyre Sports’ statement directly addressed alleged violations regarding its recruitment of now redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
“In short, the agreement (with Iamaleava) was fully consistent with then existing NIL “guidelines” and had nothing to do with recruiting Nico to the University of Tennessee or any other school.”
University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd shared his appreciation for Attorney General Skrmetti, Chancellor Donde Plowman and Directory of Athletics Danny White on Wednesday morning.
I appreciate the leadership of @AGTennessee Skrmetti, Chancellor @DondePlowman and @AD_DannyWhite in standing up for the rights of our student-athletes in Tennessee and beyond. Our university and our elected leaders in state and federal government have shown an unflinching…
— Randy Boyd (@randyboyd) January 31, 2024
The State of Tennessee’s lawsuit is the second time that District Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti has defended the University of Tennessee against the NCAA in the last year. Skrmetti previously threatened a lawsuit against the NCAA if it placed a postseason ban on Tennessee football related to the investigation into illegal recruiting tactics under Jeremy Pruitt.
