NCAA requests dismissal of Jeremy Pruitt lawsuit after Philip Fulmer, University of Tennessee subpoenas

The NCAA filed a motion Thursday to dismiss Jeremy Pruitt’s $100 million lawsuit against the organization, according to documents obtained by CBS Sports. Pruitt filed the lawsuit in March in DeKalb County, Ala. and subpoenaed former Tennessee athletics director Philip Fulmer and other UT officials on Thursday.

In the suit, Pruitt alleged the NCAA co-conspired with Tennessee and made him a “sacrificial lamb” for rules violations, per the filing. The NCAA argued the court in Alabama “does not have personal jurisdiction” over the association and said it was “not a proper venue for this action.”

If it was a proper venue, the NCAA said, “this is not a convenient venue for the parties and witnesses who will be involved in this action, nor would litigating this case here advance the interests of justice.” Pruitt requested Fulmer and others to testify in October.

“The NCAA is not subject to specific personal jurisdiction in Alabama because none of Pruitt’s claims arise out of or relate to any contacts the NCAA might have had with the state of Alabama,” reads the filing, per CBS Sports. “Indeed, Pruitt does not allege the NCAA engaged in any wrongful conduct in Alabama whatsoever. … Accordingly, this Court should dismiss Pruitt’s Complaint against the NCAA without prejudice in its entirety.”

Tennessee fired Pruitt in 2021 and he received a six-year show cause from the NCAA in 2023 as a result of the investigation into alleged recruiting violations. The investigation included an allegation of $60,000 in cash or gifts given to football recruits or players by Pruitt, his wife, numerous coaches, staff and boosters.

All 18 of the violations were Level I violations. Level I is the most severe infraction on the scale from one through four.

In the suit, Pruitt claimed Tennessee was illegally paying players before he arrived and he reported multiple violations to then-Volunteers athletic director Phillip Fulmer in 2017. Fulmer announced his retirement at the same time as Pruitt’s firing, but officials said the decision was independent and unrelated to the football program’s actions.

Fulmer told Pruitt that “he would handle it,” according to the complaint. In the suit filed by Pruitt, he claims that the NCAA applied rules against him that “had been essentially abolished in 2021 by the United States Supreme Court ruling.”

“After his termination from the University, Jeremy learned that one or more individuals in the UT Athletics Department or boosters had systematically engaged in making payments to players at a time when NCAA rules did not allow such payments,” according to the complaint.

Pete Nakos contributed to this report.