editor

Jerry Williams lost another round in his efforts to finish the season as a playing member of NIU’s basketball team.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Norgle on Friday denied Williams a preliminary injuction that would have allowed the academically ineligible NIU guard to play in tonight’s game against Florida International at Miami, as well as the remaining two games of the season.

Williams, who was declared academically ineligible at the the start of the semester due to his grade point average, claims the university raised its academic standards from a 1.8 GPA to 2.0 after he signed his scholarship for this school year, said Scott Erwin, Williams’ attorney.

Erwin said Williams signed a document for his scholarship which also was “related to his membership on the team” on May 5, 1986, three months before the standards were changed. Erwin said he has a National Collegiate Athletic Association document that states the change of academic requirements for athletes’ eligibility was not made until Aug. 21, 1986.

But the university, represented by NIU Legal Counsel George Shur, claims no written agreements are made between the university and the players that guarantee they will play in all games, said Associate Legal Counsel Norden Gilbert.

NIU contends the contract Williams signed in May guaranteed only his scholarship, which has not been taken away, Erwin said.

“They are saying there is no violation in contract because there is no contract in the first place,” Erwin said. But Erwin said the documents Williams signed in May “were related to his scholarship and his membership” on the basketball team, and the signing of the documents constituted a contractual arrangement between Williams and the university. Shur was unavailable for comment.

The main charge in the case, according to DeKalb County court files, is that NIU “has attempted to change the terms of the contractual agreement” between Williams and the university after the term of the contract had begun.

No damages are being sought to date, Erwin said. “Right now we are just concerned with getting him back on the team.”

Although the judge’s ruling Friday prevented Williams from playing in tonight’s game, Erwin might pursue the case in an effort to allow him to play in Wednesday’s game against New Orleans and Saturday’s game against Ball State, he said.

Erwin was informed o the ruling late Friday afternoon and was given no reasons for the denial. He said he will have a decision about pursuing the case after he receives documents explaining the judge’s decision this afternoon.

Williams has missed six games because of his ineligibility status. Williams will be “irreparably harmed” unless NIU is prohibited from enforcing the “alteration of the contract,” Erwin said, referring to the agreement signed on May 5.

When Williams started the fall semester his GPA was 2.2, which then dropped to a level where he met the NCAA GPA of 1.8, but fell below NIU’s 2.0 standard.

On Feb. 10 Williams had denied he went to court, and on Feb. 12 he said he would not appeal his ineligibility because “things didn’t work out” in his Feb. 9 court appearance. Williams could not be reached for comment.

The case originally was heard in DeKalb County on Feb. 9, at which time DeKalb County Circuit Court Judge Rex Meilinger denied a temporary restraining order and continued the case to Feb. 10 for a hearing on a request for a preliminary injuction.

On Feb. 10 Meilinger ruled that the case was not within the jurisdiction of the court. However, Erwin said the Feb. 10 ruling was not “entirely” why he sought to continue the case in federal court.

The main factor in deciding to take it to the federal level was location. Erwin said the university requested the case to be heard in Springfield where the Board of Regents office is located, but because of the inconvenient location he requested the case be heard in federal court in Rockford. The judge in Rockford is on vacation for the next two weeks, so Erwin pursued the case in federal court in Chicago, he said.

Williams has continued his involvement with the team as a senior co-captain and recently was honored with a plaque of recognition before NIU’s Feb. 12 home finale. Williams’ final appearance was Jan. 10 against Northern Iowa when he scored 16 points.