Parish v. NCAA case brief

Parish v. NCAA case brief summary
361 F.Supp. 1220 (1973)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Plaintiff college basketball players brought a motion for a preliminary injunction in their declaratory judgment action against defendants, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its officials, seeking to prevent enforcement of an NCAA rule that declared athletes with low projected grade-point averages ineligible to compete in interscholastic competition.

CASE FACTS
The basketball players, including one of the nation's top college athletes, failed to meet the NCAA's academic qualifications under a rule establishing minimum projected grade-point averages. The players brought an action against the NCAA and officials for an injunction preventing enforcement of the rule, under which they were ineligible to compete in interscholastic athletic competition.

DISCUSSION

• The court denied the players' motion for a preliminary injunction. 
• The court held that:
• (1) the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applied only to the deprivation of constitutionally protected liberty and property interests, and neither federal or state law protected the players' right to participate in post-season basketball games or championship tournaments;
• (2) a preliminary injunction was an extraordinary remedy that could not be granted in the absence of a clear showing of probable success and possible irreparable injury, and there was no substantial probability that the players would be successful on the merits or that they would suffer irreparable injury in the absence of an injunction.

CONCLUSION
The court denied the players' motion for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the NCAA and officials from enforcing a rule that declared athletes with low projected grade-point averages ineligible to compete in interscholastic competition.


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