NCAA Argues Zeigler Would be First to Play Five DI seasons in 5 years
Attorneys for two-time Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year Zakai Zeigler accuse the NCAA of trying to dodge facts and law by asking a federal judge to deny the Tennessee point guard’s preliminary injunction seeking to play a fifth season in as many years.
Zeigler’s attorneys compared the NCAA’s motion filed Monday to misdirection and said it used “cherry-picked” or “fundamentally flawed” data ahead of Friday’s hearing on the preliminary injunction request before U.S. District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer in Knoxville.
“Rather than recognize the evolution of antitrust law’s application to its business model, the NCAA relies on outdated legal arguments. And rather than address the law as it is, the NCAA mischaracterizes it to defend its illegal actions,” Zeigler’s attorneys wrote in a response filed Tuesday.
Zeigler sued the NCAA on May 20 over its rules limiting him to four seasons in a five-year window as an unlawful restraint of trade under both federal and Tennessee laws. His lawsuit argues he could earn between $2 million and as much as $4 million with another season.
The NCAA argued Monday that Zeigler’s injunction request should be denied because he is asking the court to make him the first athlete in history to play a fifth season in Division I “as a matter of right.” The NCAA also said using the case of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia doesn’t help because that case was “decided in error.”
Pavia, who started his career at a junior college, was granted another year to play a fifth season, a ruling the NCAA is appealing. Zeigler played four seasons at Tennessee and already has graduated. The NCAA’s motion said the life of a collegiate athlete is enabled by the Four-Seasons Rule, which creates a stream of opportunities for rising high school athletes.