NCAA Upholds Penalties Against Mizzou, Including Postseason Bans

An NCAA appeals committee upheld a series of penalties against the University of Missouri (Mizzou), including postseason bans, after a tutor was found to be completing coursework for several student-athletes.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions initially penalized Mizzou in January 2019. The tutor was employed by the university from 2010 to 2016 and began to complete student coursework in the summer of 2015. The tutor interpreted a pay raise as school approval of her behavior. She completed assignments, quizzes, exams, and even an entire course …

April 17, 2018 Concussions / Litigation / NCAA

Widow of Notre Dame Football Player Hopeful for CTE Suit to Stand

As we have previously covered, the wife of former Notre Dame football player, Steven Schmitz, filed a lawsuit targeting Notre Dame and the NCAA in 2014 on behalf of her late husband. She is seeking to recover for the college and organization’s alleged “reckless disregard” for the safety of college football players, specifically during the time period that Schmitz spent playing for the team in the 1970s, which led to his diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 2012, and his ultimate passing in …

February 22, 2018 NCAA

Notre Dame Forced to Vacate 2012 and 2013 Wins

On February 13, 2018, the NCAA’s Division I Infractions Appeals Committee (IAC) announced that the University of Notre Dame’s football team must vacate 21 wins accumulated during the 2012 and 2013 football seasons. Back in November 2016, an NCAA panel sanctioned Notre Dame after the school self-reported that a student trainer had done coursework and given benefits to a group of football players. As a result of the ruling, wins from the 2012 and 2013 seasons were vacated, Notre Dame was put on probation, Notre …

December 15, 2016 Litigation / NCAA

Ohio Takes a Closer Look at Accrual of Injury in Concussion Case

The long-lasting nature of a concussion injury may be a way around the statute of limitation problems for athletes bringing concussion suits. The Ohio Court of Appeals, which revived a former Notre Dame football player’s case against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), recently reasoned that there was nothing about the player’s condition prior to diagnosis (within the statute of limitations) that would have alerted him that his injury was the result of the NCAA alleged tortious conduct.

Steven Schmitz, who passed away …