James Paxton, the University of Kentucky baseball player at the center of a legal dispute involving his school and the NCAA, left UK a few months before graduation because he didn’t want to give up his fundamental right to keep his conversations with his attorney private, attorney Richard Johnson said last week.
Paxton, a left-handed pitcher expected to be taken high in this year’s MLB draft, left the school late last month after a Kentucky appeals court denied his request for an injunction against the university that would have allowed him to play without submitting to an NCAA interview.
Johnson represented Paxton in the court case. Agent Scott Boras has served as Paxton’s adviser for his baseball career. Paxton was drafted last June by the Toronto Blue Jays, but returned for his senior year after rejecting a $1 million signing bonus.
The NCAA sought an interview with Paxton after The Globe and Mail of Toronto published an interview last summer indicating that Jays President and CEO Paul Beeston may have dealt directly with Boras, rather than Paxton and his family. NCAA regulations allow student athletes to have an adviser but do not allow the adviser to talk directly with the club, even though that is a common industry practice.
A Kentucky official did not respond to requests for a telephone interview about Paxton but provided a press release in which the university said that it was disappointed in Paxton’s decision not to meet with NCAA investigators and that he had an obligation to answer questions about his amateur status.
But Johnson said Paxton was being asked to do something other non-athlete students at Kentucky are not: Talk about his relationship with his attorney.
“They want him to answer questions no one else on earth would have to answer,” Johnson said. “They told us if they asked any questions about Scott Boras and he refused to answer they would have to suspend him.”
The NCAA also declined requests for a telephone interview. A spokeswoman declined to answer whether the NCAA asks student athletes about their relationships with their attorneys, calling the question vague.
Johnson said Paxton’s decision to leave school was extremely difficult for him. “He turned down a million dollars to come back and play with his teammates,” Johnson said, “and he is devastated he wasn’t able to do that.”
CAA SHIFTS LEADERSHIP OF BASEBALL DIVISION: CAA Sports has quietly shifted the leadership of its baseball division from Casey Close, one of the first major sports agents the Hollywood firm hired, to five baseball agents who have joined the agency in the last several years, multiple sources said.
Those five are Nez Balelo, Brodie Van Wagenen, Jeff Berry, Joe Urbon and Greg Landry. Under the new leadership, CAA’s baseball division recently signed Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Brian Matusz and Washington Nationals ace John Lannan.
CAA launched its sports division in spring 2006 by hiring Close and NFL agent Tom Condon, who both formerly worked at IMG. Close’s personal clients include Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard.
Close declined to comment last week on the changes at the agency or on speculation in the marketplace that he may leave CAA when his contract is up in the next year. There is talk that he could start his own agency or join another, including FAME, the firm owned by NBA agent David Falk.
Falk said last week that he has not talked to Close about such a plan. But Falk added, “If Casey Close were a free agent and wanted to talk, I would be flattered. … I am a Casey Close fan.”
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
