With Big Ten back, will NCAA prevent star players from returning to school?

[highwayman]

"Minnesota star wide receiver Rashod Bateman has returned to school and enrolled in full-time classes after declaring for the draft early in August and signing with an agent. Two Ohio State stars, Shaun Wade and Wyatt Davis, have announced their intention to return to play after declaring they’d be going pro. So did Michigan star tackle Jalen Mayfield.

There are Big Ten stars reportedly pondering the same in the wake of the league’s reversal last week, Penn State’s Micah Parsons and Purdue’s Rondale Moore among them. Some Pac-12 stars are exploring the same, as that league is expected on Thursday to decide if and when it will return to the field this fall."

Full article

 

[#2Gopher]

A lawyers dream if these players don't get immediate reinstatement.

 

[1983]

A lawyers dream if these players don't get immediate reinstatement.

Not sure about that. They made the decision and there are rules about this, taking money and working with an agent. Never saw the point in the players leaving because there was to be no season this year. They all intended to play this year and there is no downside to working a year off in the gym. What is the rush under these circumstances? Who is going to pay the money back? Are the agents writing off or getting written promises they they will represent when the player is ready to go NFL? Donors going to pay the money back? What will the excuse for changing your mind be next time?
Love to see our guy back but this is complicated and the decision will be difficult, maybe too difficult to reverse.

 

[Taji34]

Not sure about that. They made the decision and there are rules about this, taking money and working with an agent. Never saw the point in the players leaving because there was to be no season this year. They all intended to play this year and there is no downside to working a year off in the gym. What is the rush under these circumstances? Who is going to pay the money back? Are the agents writing off or getting written promises they they will represent when the player is ready to go NFL? Donors going to pay the money back? What will the excuse for changing your mind be next time?
Love to see our guy back but this is complicated and the decision will be difficult, maybe too difficult to reverse.

Ah yes, but it's the premise they made the decision on that is the crux of the argument. In a normal year, you make a decision and the factors that influenced that decision don't change drastically. This year, so many things have changed, the argument is "Well, if they had always been like that, or changed sooner, these players would have never opted out. Why should they be punished for the conference taking too long to make/revisit decisions". Especially pertinent when the reason a player opted out was due to health safety concerns, like Bateman, rather than just "The conference isn't playing so I'm declaring early since I was thinking of declaring after the season anyway".

 

[Plato]

The circumstances surrounding the decision and the athlete's state of mind have no bearing on the facts.
If you hire an agent you cannot come back.
You are not forced to hire an agent.
You could opt out without hiring an agent.

 

[1983]

The circumstances surrounding the decision and the athlete's state of mind have no bearing on the facts.
If you hire an agent you cannot come back.
You are not forced to hire an agent.
You could opt out without hiring an agent.

I agree. I also hope it works out for everyone but does not always happen in life. Where will the waiver rules stop? Maybe wrong but I am guessing the head coach of all these guys had some compelling input with them and spelled out the consequences.

 

[MGGopher]

The circumstances surrounding the decision and the athlete's state of mind have no bearing on the facts.
If you hire an agent you cannot come back.
You are not forced to hire an agent.
You could opt out without hiring an agent.

I think we addressed this earlier, but again, it's not true that you cannot come back if you hire an agent. What's true is that it makes you ineligible at that moment, but you can apply for reinstatement of eligibility. Somebody already posted a case in this thread in which a player declared for the draft, signed with an agent, went undrafted, and was granted a waiver to return to eligibility. Specific details weren't provided, but I think it was the ASU kicker and everything was COVID related (canceled pro day, canceled workouts, etc).

 

[GoGophersUMN]

Ah yes, but it's the premise they made the decision on that is the crux of the argument. In a normal year, you make a decision and the factors that influenced that decision don't change drastically. This year, so many things have changed, the argument is "Well, if they had always been like that, or changed sooner, these players would have never opted out. Why should they be punished for the conference taking too long to make/revisit decisions". Especially pertinent when the reason a player opted out was due to health safety concerns, like Bateman, rather than just "The conference isn't playing so I'm declaring early since I was thinking of declaring after the season anyway".

Why would the legal system get involved though?

It's a different situation than when a player signs with an agent and wants to come back in a normal year so the NCAA should let players come back but if they don't, I don't see why courts would get involved. Unless the NCAA is treating different schools differently or discriminating based on race, country of origin, religion, or something similar, it seems like an issue between the NCAA and players/teams.

Especially with Bateman, the timing doesn't help either. He opted out before the Big Ten announced they were postponing the season and knew that without a waiver, signing with an agent would mean he couldn't come back. If his concerns were entirely due to health concerns and the lack of appropriate procedures to keep players safe, he could have chosen to not practice or play with the team until he felt safe but not sign with an agent to keep his options open. The NCAA should still let him come back but if they don't, getting a lawyer involved doesn't seem like a productive solution.

 

[tikited]

Hope I'm wrong, but I don't see how he comes back. Taking money ends any hope imo.

 

[GoldenRodents]

Does this mean he has to give back the Lambo?

 

[TurfGopher]

you would think that the NCAA would be very receptive to star players coming back for the season. NCAA/B1G/College football needs any boost it can get right now. Its good for business.