CHARLESTON W.Va. (Hinton News) — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey issued a statement following a federal court ruling Wednesday granting a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, barring the association from enforcing its transfer rule.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Wheeling issued a temporary restraining order for 14 days.
“This order paves the way for student athletes, like RaeQuan Battle, to play in the sport they love and continue improving themselves,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “We are looking forward to proving definitively that the NCAA has violated the Sherman Act by failing to maintain a consistent and defensible transfer rule and by denying these student athletes the chance to play.”
Attorney General Morrisey, working with a bipartisan coalition of seven states, sued the NCAA, challenging its Transfer Eligibility Rule. The lawsuit comes on the heels of the NCAA’s decision to deny Battle a transfer waiver so he can play basketball for West Virginia University.
Battle testified in support of the temporary restraining order at the hearing Wednesday.
The Attorney General said restraining transfers by hundreds of student-athletes each year violates the antitrust laws by depriving them of the chance to pursue the athletic and educational opportunities of their choice. Those missed opportunities are often tied to name, image and likeness agreements that in turn provide substantial commercial benefits to athletes at Division I institutions like WVU.
