High Schooler Suing Univ. Of Hawaii Over Lack Of Scholarship

High school football player Daniel Smith is “taking the NCAA’s system of verbal commitments to court,” suing the Univ. of Hawaii (UH) and former assistant coach Jeff Reinebold, according to Andy Staples of SI.com. Smith orally committed to UH last April as a high school junior after he was recruited by Reinebold. But Reinebold left for Southern Methodist Univ. after the season with head coach June Jones, and after UH claimed in January Smith “hadn’t received an official offer, Daniel had no other scholarship options.” Smith: “I’m not trying to get any money. I’m just trying to get my scholarship that I was promised 10 months ago. They told me to not talk to any other school, to tell everyone I was committed to Hawaii. I did, for 10 months. And one day my scholarship is gone.” Wake Forest Univ. law professor Timothy Davis said of the lawsuit, “This is the first one that I’m aware of ... where an athlete has actually proceeded to file a lawsuit. I’ve heard of similar cases where there were some rumblings made and some complaints, but they were resolved amicably by the athlete and the institution.” Staples reported sports law experts will “watch this case closely, because it could set a legal precedent.” If schools have to pay after pulling scholarship offers, it “may force schools to fundamentally chance the process by which they offer scholarships” (SI.com, 2/29).

INSURANCE INFORMATION WANTED: USA TODAY’s Steve Wieberg reports California-based National College Players Association (NCPA) has asked Division I schools to "provide information on insurance coverage they provide their athletes." The NCPA hopes by early April to “draw up school-by-school grades to be distributed to athletes and recruits.” NCPA President Ramogi Huma: “We want to coincide this with March Madness to contrast the revenues [from the NCAA Division I basketball tournament] with some of the lack of protection players have in their medical coverage.” Wieberg reports the NCPA wants to know which schools provide year-round coverage for athletes, the extent of coverage for sports-injury expenses and “once athletes exhaust their eligibility, how long the institutions cover medical expenses related to injuries suffered while the athletes were playing for the schools” (USA TODAY, 3/3).