NCAA sued over major-junior hockey player ban

Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporterAug 13, 2024, 10:31 AM ET

CloseKristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.

Canadian junior hockey player Rylan Masterson filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the NCAA and 10 universities on Monday evening, alleging the NCAA is violating anti-trust laws by preventing any player who has appeared in a major-junior hockey game from also playing in the NCAA.

The suit — filed in the U.S. District Court — argues the NCAA and U.S. universities are anticompetitive in allowing the rule.

The NCAA has deemed any players competing in the CHL — comprised of the OHL, WHL and QMJHL — as ineligible for the NCAA because there are players on those teams have signed professional contracts with NHL teams. NCAA Bylaw 12.2.3.2 states that “an individual shall not be eligible for intercollegiate athletics in a sport if the individual ever competed on a professional team.”

Masterson, 19, has played his last three seasons for the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Fort Erie Meteors and was named captain in September 2023. In 2022, Masterson appeared in two preseason games with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires; that stint alone was enough to cost him future NCAA eligibility.

The proposed suit names the NCAA along with Canisius University, Niagara University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Boston College, Boston University, University of Denver, Quinnipiac University, University of Notre Dame Du Lac, Stonehill College and the University of St. Thomas.

Masterson argues in the suit that even pro athletes who’s been financially compensated for their athletic feats — like swimmer Katie Ledecky — still retained NCAA eligibility. The suit also notes Boston College’s Tom Willander played professionally in Sweden and was still allowed to dress in the NCAA too.

In the suit, Masterson outlines that, “this scheme [referred to herein as the ‘boycott’] prevents competition between the CHL and NCAA for top-end players and thus artificially suppresses…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/40846088/ncaa-sued-major-junior-hockey-player-ban

Author : Kristen Shilton

Publish date : 2024-08-13 15:31:24

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