Rob Futhey, Hasz’s lawyer, argued the five-year clock limits name, image and likeness, or NIL, opportunities for former junior college players.
“The squeeze that’s put on junior college athletes like Jack is they may start at a junior college and go there for one to two years,” Futhey said, “but their clock has already started ticking for their eligibility under the NCAA rules.”
People who enlist in the military or go on a religious mission trip are exempt from the five-year restriction. He’s asking the NCAA to not play “fast and loose” with its principles, Futhey said at the hearing.
“There needs to be a recognition that this one-size-fits-all approach for everyone doesn’t need to apply,” Futhey said. “And the only thing I’m saying is that they’ve already recognized that the one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t fit for everybody.”
In court, Judge Bataillon asked NCAA lead attorney Matt Ralph how his client is allowed to create eligibility guidelines that end up affecting other organizations, like junior college athletics.
The requirements define the product by outlining who constitutes a college athlete, Ralph said at the hearing. In its court filing, the association argues the five-year clock “implements a policy that NCAA athletes also be students.”
The NCAA should be allowed to write its own rules, Ralph said in court, arguing federal courts can’t interfere with a private association’s guidelines.
In an emailed statement to Nebraska Public Media News, NCAA spokesperson Michelle Hosick said the association “stands by its eligibility rules, including the five-year rule, which enable student-athletes and schools to have fair competition and ensure broad access to the unique and life-changing opportunity to be a student-athlete.”
Hosick continued, “The NCAA is making changes to modernize college sports but attempts to alter the enforcement of foundational eligibility rules – approved and supported by membership leaders – makes a shifting environment even more unsettled.”
The NCAA argues Hasz played four full seasons of Division I football, when counting his first season at the Buffalo where he played in four games. Futhey is asking for that season to be counted as a redshirt year.
Hasz said he understands there needs to be a cutoff to define college athletes.