Will Wade torches 'totally illegal' NCAA guidelines, predicts more court battles

Now into the second week of the college football transfer portal window, a lawsuit against the NCAA has stolen headlines. A judge in West Virginia granted a 14-day temporary restraining order regarding the association’s waiver policy, stating athletes who were either denied a waiver or are waiting on a decision can play.

Friday, the NCAA came to an agreement to turn the TRO into a preliminary injunction through the end of the spring sports season. Still, the reaction to the situation has been swift — and McNeese State basketball coach Will Wade is among the latest to weigh in.

Wade sounded off on the NCAA’s guidelines for both the portal and regarding NIL in a three-minute long answer during a press conference. He thinks this is just the beginning of the court battles, and it’s not going to stop with the hearing in two weeks. He thinks there’s more coming, and said the NCAA will be “toast” as a result.

“Look, there’s a strong legal argument that these kids should not lose eligibility,” Wade said. “And it goes to court, the kids will not lose eligibility. You never know anything for 100% [certainty], but this thing, Dec. 27, the NCAA is toast anyway. They’re gonna get beat again on the 27th. It’s a moot point.

“They’re getting beat again. And they’ll get beat again after that, and they’ll get beat again after that. However, legally, a lot of what the NCAA does is just flat illegal. I’ve learned that through all my stuff, through all this stuff. … There’s a reason they’re trying to get antitrust exemption from Congress.”

Will Wade: It’s time for a new model that allows collective bargaining with athletes

Last week, NCAA president Charlie Baker announced a proposal that would create a new subdivision that would allow schools to directly negotiate with athletes and compensate them with a trust fund. The caveat, he said, is it would require a “little” antitrust exemption from Congress. That has been a key part of Baker’s arguments when speaking about federal NIL legislation.

Wade’s point, however, was that the current model isn’t sustainable. He argued the NCAA is likely to stay at the center of these legal situations, which is why he wants a new setup to allow collective bargaining with the athletes.

“Look, they just need to blow the whole thing up and come back with a new model and they need to collective bargain with the players,” Wade said. “It’s the only way they could make this thing work. And until they do that, they’re just gonna get smacked in court. They’re just gonna get smacked because in any other any other line of work, what they do is totally illegal. They’re just gonna get smacked in court. It’s really by the players and parents and stuff more than it is the schools.

“But I do think the schools are now realizing … the organization’s got some real flaws to it. ‘Hey, you can do whatever you want, but if it comes back and we win, we can punish you.’ The fact that that got overturned, they’re toast. Their initial eligibility requirements are now out the window. Like, all the initial eligibility stuff. But the restitution’s out. You can just play wherever you want, which is what you should be able to do anyway.”

Wade also called out the NCAA’s eligibility standards and accountability process

Wade also dove into the NCAA’s eligibility requirements. Under current rules, athletes have to meet a certain standard, and the Academic Progress Report (APR) is a key part of making sure those standards are met. The APR came about in 2003 as a way to track team-wide eligibility and retention rates, and it’s a way to hold schools accountable.

Wade, suffice to say, doesn’t agree with that process.

“This is how screwed up they are,” Wade said. “They’re the only organization in the world that puts — you have initial eligibility standards, right? You’ve got to meet the initial eligibility standards. So they’re gonna tell you who your school can take. You can only take the people that meet their initial eligibility standards, just play sports. And then, they’re going to hold you accountable through the APR for who they tell you to take. Either let everybody take whoever they want and then hold them accountable for the APR, or give them initial eligibility standards and don’t worry about the APR. You can’t do both. You can’t tell them who to take, then hold them accountable for who you tell them to take. It’s stupid.

“The whole thing’s stupid and … none of it lines up linear. Think about that. They tell you who to take, they hold you accountable for who they tell you who to take. What other job can do that? You can hire who you want to work on Sound Off, right? And then, you’re held accountable for who you hire. You don’t get held accountable for what your boss tells you to hire. Your boss gets held accountable. It’s stupid. The whole thing’s stupid, and people are starting to figure that out.”