Latest on Tennessee, NCAA NIL lawsuit following preliminary injunction hearing

The latest saga in the state of Tennessee and the commonwealth of Virginia’s fight against the NCAA played out Tuesday morning in the Eastern District Court of Tennessee in Greenville, Tennessee.

Judge Clifton L. Corker heard arguments from both sides as he now decides on granting a preliminary injunction, which if granted, would allow booster-funded NIL collectives to communicate with high school recruits and transfer portal players. Simply put, top college football and basketball programs would be free to tamper and induce top athletes to come to their institutions.

The hearing, which lasted just over an hour, included NCAA attorneys struggling to make clear to the court whether prospective athletes can engage in conversations about NIL opportunities. Speaking to the media after the hearing, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti emphasized it was further proof that athletes are subject to severe penalties while dealing with ever-changing NIL rules.

“Due to the NCAA’s arbitrary and illegal rules, student-athletes are being harmed and prevented from making important decisions concerning their name, image, and likeness rights – which may have a big impact on their academic and financial futures,” he said in a written statement. “Meanwhile, everybody else involved in college sports is getting rich at those student-athletes’ expense. That is not legal, not right and it needs to change.

“Antitrust law in this area is clear, and as the Court has previously said, our case is likely to succeed on the merits. We are happy with the case’s progression and look forward to litigating it fully if necessary.”

Tennessee, Virginia not bowing down to NCAA

Skrmetti also made clear that under current NCAA rules, athletes are unable to make informed decisions or negotiate contracts. It’s unclear how long Corker will take to rule on the preliminary injunction. In his decision last week to deny the states a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, he cited that there was not enough requisite irreparable harm for a TRO to be issued.

Tennessee and Virginia filed a declaration late last Friday from Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, who presented a case of irreparable harm.

“Without the NIL-recruiting ban, UT would be even more competitive in recruiting the best athletes to come play here,” Heupel wrote in the filing. “Harms like these are impossible to fix after the fact. You only get one playing career and you cannot go back in time. These harms can drastically alter the course of an athlete’s college education and their professional career (whether as a professional athlete or in another industry).”

The stakes are high for the NCAA, which is again in the courtroom battling for its hold on amateurism. Tennessee and Virginia are clearly all-in and invested in the battle to defeat the governing body. Winning the lawsuit would leave the NCAA powerless in governing NIL in college sports.

The lawsuit was filed just a day after news broke that the NCAA was investigating the Tennessee athletic department for multiple alleged NIL violations.

This is not a battle Tennessee or Virginia plan on losing, though. The picture was clear Tuesday, as a Tennessee flag was hung up on a crane facing the courthouse.