UC regents delay final decision on UCLA’s Big Ten move until December
Dec. 10, 2012
by
By Ben Wolf
UCLA’s appeal to leave the Big Ten comes to a grinding halt.
The NCAA, as expected, has filed its third appeal — this one to overturn sanctions that were upheld by the three-judge panel that ruled that UCLA violated NCAA rules in connection with the Bruins’ recruiting scandal last fall.
This time, there are three appeals: one to reinstate scholarship limits and a new restriction on late night recruiting, two to change penalties for improper contact with recruits going back years, and a third to limit an increase in scholarship money.
The NCAA says the sanctions are not enough to force the Big Ten schools to leave the NCAA. Meanwhile, UCLA is waiting until Thursday to decide if it will continue to fight the NCAA’s move.
UCLA already had filed a notice to appeal with the three-judge panel on Nov. 7. The appeal also could take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. That’s because the NCAA argues that the panel has issued its decision prematurely and the case is still in the early stages of litigation.
But UCLA President John J. Frisch on Monday called an NCAA decision to put the case on hold until December “a victory for the University of California.”
The delay gives the university the chance to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the nine Circuit judges in Washington, D.C., to decide whether to take the case.
Lawyers for the University of Southern California, which was on the losing end of the appeals panel, said they are not surprised that UCLA is waiting for the court.
“The University of Southern California (USC) respects the process of the NCAA,” USC’s legal team said in a statement. “We are pleased that UCLA has taken a sensible step that will allow us to put the case on hold until the next round of administrative proceedings
