College Athletics On Trial: the Mark Hall Decision and Its Implications for the Future

Abstract

Disputes involving athletic scholarship recipients, their universities, and the N.C.A.A. are increasingly being brought to court for resolution. One such case is Hall v University of Minnesota wherein petitioner Mark Hall successfully sought to have his declaration of academic ineligibility overturned on the grounds that he had been denied due process of law. The real significance of the Hall case though, and the heart of this article, lies in its implications for future relations between athletes, universities, and professional sports leagues. Most notably, could a university recruit a student with an unimpressive high school transcript and subsequently suspend the student for subpar grades and have this reasonably be construed as a denial of a property right, i.e. the pursuit of a professional contract? The article concludes that the question is likely to remain open and a potential subject for judicial scrutiny as long as: 1) athletes and coaches view intercollegiate athletics as a training ground for professional sports careers and 2) educators shirk their responsibility to clearly define the role of athletes in an academic community.