Ineligible P Andy Oliver Adds Oklahoma State To Lawsuit

By Liz Mullen, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Andy Oliver, the Oklahoma State Univ. (OSU) pitcher declared ineligible earlier this year, has added OSU as a defendant in his breach of contract lawsuit against the NCAA and his former advisors, alleging the school denied him due process rights afforded other students. In a second amended complaint filed in Erie County (OH) state court, Oliver alleged that the school concealed from him that it was investigating him and falsely advised him that it had hired an outside attorney to represent the pitcher’s rights. Oliver was declared ineligible to pitch hours before he was to start in a college regional championship series game. Scott Williams, OSU’s Associate AD/Compliance declined to comment on any specific allegations in the lawsuit. “Oklahoma State University is committed to obtaining Andy's reinstatement through the process established by the NCAA to handle these matters,” Williams wrote in an e-mail. Under NCAA rules, the university must seek an ineligible student-athlete’s reinstatement and the athlete cannot seek his or her own reinstatement. Oliver is asking a judge to reinstate him, alleging that the NCAA and OSU breached Oliver’s contract with the university. In the second amended complaint, filed on Wednesday, Oliver alleges the university did not follow its own student code of conduct, which allows students a number of rights, including the ability to review evidence against him and to question his accusers.