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Terrelle Pryor's lawsuit against Ohio State, Big Ten, NCAA over NIL dollars dismissed

Nakos updated headshotby: Pete Nakos07/18/25PeteNakos_
Terrelle Pryor
USA Today Network

Former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor joined the wave of athletes filing lawsuits over denied NIL dollars last October, suing the university, the NCAA and the Big Ten. A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio dismissed the lawsuit on Friday.

The former Big Ten Freshman of the Year argued in his intial filing that athletes were “purposefully excluded from this waterfall of money for many years.” Athletes could not legally profit from their name, image and likeness until July 2021. The former Ohio State quarterback was involved in the tattoo scandal that resulted in Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel’s resignation, with the entire situation looking worse in hindsight after the NCAA finally granted NIL.

In the ruling on Friday, Judge Sarah D. Morrison dismissed the suit. In her ruling, Morrison wrote that Ohio State must be dismissed for sovereign immunity, and Pryor’s claims against the defendants are untimely given the four-year statute of limitations for antitrust claims.

Pryor’s Ohio State career ended early, leaving after his junior year for the NFL instead of potentially serving a five-game suspension in his senior year over the scandal. The former five-star recruit from Pennsylvania threw for 6,177 yards and rushed for 2,164 in his career with the Buckeyes. He finished with 74 total touchdowns at Ohio State. He finished his career with the second-most victories by an Ohio State quarterback at 31.

In Terrelle Pryor’s original complaint, the former Ohio State quarterback argued he “would have been one of the highest paid collegiate athletes in the country” if NIL had been legal during his playing career.

A slew of former high-profile athletes have filed similar lawsuits in the last 18 months. Former USC running back and Heisman Trophy winner previously Reggie Bush filed a suit against USC, the Pac-12 and the NCAA. Former Michigan football, Kansas basketball and NC State basketball athletes have all filed similar lawsuits.