re: Great analysis of the Maason Smith situation and NCAA incompetence

I agree that this whole thing is stupid but what if he is still banged up so it actually ends up being the best game to miss? Not saying that’s the case but it is possible

LSU shouldn’t have disclosed the severity of the injury after the FSU game last year and let him be suspended for the Southern game.

quote:

---

Knowingly playin an ineligible player is an immediate forfeit. There’s no investigation needed that would be the reason for the ruling to come down 5 years from now.

---

When the rankings come out, everyone would remember who kicked whose arse though.

frick the NCAA. They won't even exist in a few years...

quote:

---

The US Supreme Court ruled athletes had the right to profit from their NIL on June 21st 2021.

---

This is factually incorrect. The USSC has never issued a ruling on a student-athletes right to profit from their NIL because said issue has never been placed before the Supreme Court. The Alston ruling to which you reference was a concurrence with a lower court finding that the NCAA rules limiting educational related compensation, which in no way, shape or form includes NIL, for student-athletes violated provisions of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The NCAA created its own NIL rules, which loosened the limitations on non-educational related compensation for student-athletes, on its own accord. Granted, the NCAA saw the writing on the wall that its limitation of non-educational compensation for student-athletes was ripe for future additional litigation, it acted on its own creating the NIL rules and setting a effective date for these rules.

quote:

---

How can Smith be punished for selling autographs in July of that year?

---

Because the incident in question happened before the effective date (July 1, 2021).

The following is directly quoted from the Harvard Law Review analysis of the case NCAA v Alston in the very first paragraph:

"in NCAA v. Alston,
5. 141 S. Ct. 2141 (2021).
the Supreme Court upheld a district court ruling that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules limiting education-related compensation violated section 1 of the Sherman Act.
6. See id. at 2151–52, 2166.
Shortly after the Court’s decision, the NCAA voted of its own accord to allow a student athlete to receive compensation in exchange for use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
7. The Alston holding did not compel the NCAA’s NIL decision because the ruling left the NCAA’s rules limiting compensation unrelated to education undisturbed. See id. at 2165.
Even after this series of changes, the NCAA still restricts the compensation that schools can provide directly to their athletes unrelated to education."

Alston case had nothing to do with NIL, the ruling in Alston was pertaining to the NCAA limiting education related compensation. Now, the NCAA saw the writing on the wall and passed their own NIL rules with an effective date. Any violation of the rules prior to the effective date of the New (at the time) NIL rules would still be a violation of the rules that were in effect at the time of said violation.

As a courtesy, below is a link to the Harvard Law Review of the Alston Decision for your reading pleasure.

HLR Analysis of Alston

quote:

---

LSU shouldn’t have disclosed the severity of the injury after the FSU game last year and let him be suspended for the Southern game.

---

You are making an assumption that the NCAA had issued a one game suspension ruling at that point in time. From appearances (Boutte being suspended later in the season) this would not have been the case.

quote:

---

The ruling said the athletes always had that right. How can you punish a kid for exercising his rights?

---

No it did not, ruling had nothing to do with this type of compensation for student-athletes.

"unconstitutional" would be a far reach to describe the findings that certain NCAA rules/by-laws violated provision of an anti-trust statute. This was not a Constitutional Law issue.

quote:

---

The US Supreme Court ruled athletes had the right to profit from their NIL on June 21st 2021.

---

Contrary to popular belief, the US Supreme Court didn’t rule on NIL. The case was about other benefits provided by schools beyond what the NCAA allowed at the time.

Kavanaugh issued a concurring opinion on the case that blasted the NCAA’s business model and made clear that the NCAA was at major risk in future cases. But the ruling itself did not directly impact NIL because it wasn’t part of the case. Essentially, Kavanaugh’s opinion put “the writing on the wall” so to speak.

The thing that actually forced the NCAA’s hand was the wave of state laws legalizing NIL. The NCAA’s “interim” NIL policy went into effect at the same time as the first wave of state NIL laws. That deadline had already been looming long before the USSC ruling.

If anything, the USSC ruling’s real impact was to show the NCAA that they would get zero relief from the federal courts. This, combined with their failure lobbying for federal legislation, meant they could either comply with the new state laws or cease to exist.

ETA: I still think it’s bullshite that LSU would have been able to pick a game in 2022, but not in 2023 after his injury. That strikes me as a petty ruling by the NCAA. But I don’t think LSU/Maason have the legal standing to fight it that some of you are suggesting.

quote:

---

Truthfully I hope Maason suits up and see’s what the NCAA will do with him on field. You’re gonna delay a nationally televised game until I sit out? Would be my question to the NCAA.

---

I know this sounds good, but beyond lobbying the NCAA to reverse their ruling, LSU really needs to stay out of this because they are just coming off closing the books on a bunch of shite with the NCAA.

There is precedent here. Penny Hardaway at Memphis tried to stick his finger in the NCAA’s eye over James Wiseman being ruled ineligible right before his freshman season because of a sudden rule interpretation reversal. Wiseman’s family sued the NCAA and was granted an injunction, so Penny played Wiseman in spite of the NCAA’s threats to refrain from doing so.

Even though Memphis backed the Wiseman lawsuit, it eventually failed and Penny had to stop playing him, which ended his college career. That really hurt Memphis that season, as they were good without Wiseman and could have been a very good tourney team with him, but that was the least of the problems. Out of spite, the NCAA opened an investigation and alleged several L3 violations. It eventually came to even less punishment than LSU hoops got, but it tied up money, time and attention for almost two years. It was classic NCAA bullshite.

Look at how the NCAA is behaving today. What’s happening to Smith is also absolute bullshite and I wouldn’t mind seeing him and his family take a shot at the NCAA. But LSU needs to stay on the sidelines and just let it go. If LSU plays Smith without the NCAA reversing its decision, it will open the door to them declaring him ineligible for the entire season and taking any wins he plays in.

As shitty as this is, take the one game and let him play the rest of the season.