NCAA Names Tom Mars Investigator With New Complex Case Unit

Arkansas-based attorney Tom Mars, who "emerged in recent years as a powerful force in college athletics, will become an investigator with the NCAA's new Complex Case Unit," according to sources cited by Pat Forde of YAHOO SPORTS. The CCU, which is "scheduled to come into being next month, was a recommended reform" by the Rice Commission on College Basketball last year. The group is "expected to be comprised of a combination of external investigators and members of the NCAA enforcement staff that is tasked to handle the more complicated and large-scale investigations of potential NCAA rules violations." Mars "came to prominence in the college sports world" in '17 when he sued Ole Miss on behalf of former football coach Houston Nutt, "alleging breach of contract." Mars then "continued to spread his influence in college football by taking up the cause of immediate-eligibility waivers for high-profile transfers" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/19).