Greg Sankey reacts to House v. NCAA settlement final approval delay, calls for decision before implementation

As the House v. NCAA settlement final approval process continues, roster limits remain front and center. Judge Claudia Wilken expressed concern during last month’s hearing and asked the two sides to address those issues in an updated brief, which was filed at last week’s deadline to do so.

In her order, Wilken said preliminary approval of the settlement was not necessarily an indicator of final approval with regard to preparations for the proposed roster limits. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said that was part of his message to the schools in his conference, as well.

Sankey said a decision on final approval is necessary before implementing terms of the settlement. Once that comes – one way or the other – the conversation about putting those particulars into place will ramp up at the SEC’s spring meetings later this month in Destin.

“As I read, as a layperson, the judge’s order around, ‘Go back and look at the implementation of roster structures,’ part of what was there is what we said to our members,” Sankey told Paul Finebaum Wednesday on The Paul Finebaum Show. “We need a decision before we can move to implementation. We can prepare for implementation, but some of those systems, some of those explanations are awaiting the decision.

“Our need is for a decision, and then a lot of our time in Destin will be filled with instruction and orientation with service providers, but also with our staff, talking through how implementation will work. That’s way inside baseball … but that’s the work that occupies an enormous amount of time across all the conferences involved in this litigation.”

Attorneys for the two sides filed their updated brief for the House v. NCAA settlement May 7 – the deadline imposed by Wilken. Objections were due by Tuesday, and both the plaintiffs and defendants have until May 16 to respond. That further sets the table for a decision on final approval.

Under the plan to grandfather in spots for roster limits, athletes who had their positions cut will be eligible for reinstatement at schools’ discretion. It also permits athletes who leave or not retained by their current school would keep grandfather status at a new school.

“While Defendants insisted that the changes to the Settlement Agreement recognize that individual schools and their athletics departments retain discretion to independently determine which athletes will be on their rosters, that has always been the case; and it remains unchanged whether or not there are roster limits,” the filing reads. “The revisions to the Settlement Agreement ensure that class members who have or would have lost roster spots or promised roster spots as a result of the new roster limits will be in the same position as they would have been in if roster limits were never implemented, i.e., roster limits do not apply to them.

“We thus believe that this relief is exactly the type of change that the Court was seeking and in fact, provides even greater protections for athletes than the Court identified.”

Wilken will now consider the plan, and if approved, the House v. NCAA settlement will move closer to final approval. Roster limits are expected to heavily impact football, swimming, track and cross country. Grandfathering, however, comes with plenty of questions attached.