Big news: Vassar suing NU for antitrust

[HawkCat]

"You suck (so much that we won't honor our commitment to you and will do our best to make things awful for you so that you want to leave)" is the problem.

I assume this will have zero impact on northwestern basketball or Chris Collins' career.

That is one possible scenario. Another possible scenario:

Player: Coach, you need to give me more playing time.
Coach: You suck too much to get more playing time.
Player: Then I want to transfer someplace where I can get more playing time.
Coach: That might be a good idea.

I'm not saying that is what happened here, as I have no inside knowledge. Just noting that it is another plausible scenario. Let's see what NU's side of the story is.

 

[Medill90]

The suit is not about CC being verbally abusive to a player but rather about an alleged institutional conspiracy to screw Johnnie out of a scholarship at Northwestern and a future career in basketball.

The most bothersome aspect of this for me is the part about there being other jobs open and the claim he was denied the opportunity to move into those jobs. That multiple administrators may have been involved in barring him from such a move.

I accept that coaches are crazy, workaholic type-A's who are over the top intense. And so Administration is the constant "check" that ensures the type-A's are kept in line. The Administrators understand and operate primarily under the premise that the goal is to educate first. The idea that multiple levels of administration conspired to deny an opportunity, however menial that opportunity was, must be addressed. Which will happen in NU's filing, hopefully.

You know whose perspective on this would be great? Shon Morris. I don't think he'd ever give it publicly though.

 

[willycat]

The most bothersome aspect of this for me is the part about there being other jobs open and the claim he was denied the opportunity to move into those jobs. That multiple administrators may have been involved in barring him from such a move.

I accept that coaches are crazy, workaholic type-A's who are over the top intense. And so Administration is the constant "check" that ensures the type-A's are kept in line. The Administrators understand and operate primarily under the premise that the goal is to educate first. The idea that multiple levels of administration conspired to deny an opportunity, however menial that opportunity was, must be addressed. Which will happen in NU's filing, hopefully.

You know whose perspective on this would be great? Shon Morris. I don't think he'd ever give it publicly though.

Or maybe because of the kids personality, few wanted to become involved with him, on or off the court.

 

[rwhitney014]

Right, the idea is very similar to buying out a coach's contract when you fire him. I'd be very surprised if the NCAA permits it, though, since it seems like that kind of loophole would be ripe for abuse.

Funny thing is, if the cohort of folks who want college players to be treated like employees win out, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing that will become very common unless it's collectively bargained out of the rules. Just like any other employee, if you can't earn your keep, you're out.

No judgment on right or wrong here or in the bigger picture, at least not yet. Just strikes me as ironic. One can certainly see how college athletic departments might be frustrated. Can't win both sides of that argument at once.

 

[FloridAlum]

Can someone explain to me why he waited until now to file a lawsuit

 

[Fitz51]

Can someone explain to me why he waited until now to file a lawsuit

How long someone waits to file a lawsuit isn't really indicative of anything as far as strength of accusations. Sometimes, it just takes time. Other times, people are unaware of their real rights until well after something happens. Also, who knows when he found a lawyer (or a lawyer found him)?

 

[Styre]

Funny thing is, if the cohort of folks who want college players to be treated like employees win out, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing that will become very common unless it's collectively bargained out of the rules. Just like any other employee, if you can't earn your keep, you're out.

Sure, but that's basically how it already works (except in the Big Ten) with scholarships renewing annually.

 

[IGNORE2]

How long someone waits to file a lawsuit isn't really indicative of anything as far as strength of accusations. Sometimes, it just takes time. Other times, people are unaware of their real rights until well after something happens. Also, who knows when he found a lawyer (or a lawyer found him)?

Could also be something triggered it. My first thought is that JV stayed so quiet so long on advice of counsel. Lots of things could trigger administrative remedies to attack his athletic schollie and the SOL probably was not a concern.

Maybe the change in his scholarship,maybe a change in treatment, maybe the factors that 51 cited - but probably little that changes the volition of the accusations.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

Can someone explain to me why he waited until now to file a lawsuit

It took time. Months ago, he indicated something like this would be happening but it would be a while before we would hear about it.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

It took time. Months ago, he indicated something like this would be happening but it would be a while before we would hear about it.

You seem to have inside info or otherwise have some relationship to the litigant. Any insights that you are free to share?

 

[NJCat]

InsideNU.com has a link to another story about JV, published by Vice Sports' Kevin Trahan. I'm not going to post it here because you can easily find it on their site.