Show Court Shakes Right W. W to Regulate Athletes' Athletes Play WE MIGHT AS W WELL LL NOT HAVE A BIG TEN URBANA CHAMPAIGN-URBANA A federal court has not only re-inserted re quarterback Dave Wilson into the University University University Uni Uni- of Illinois' Illinois starting football up line-up it has set a precedent precedent pre pre- rt that could shake apart and regional conference rules that have governed intercollegiate sports for decades If that ruling stands Indiana University basketball Coach Bobby Knight said before the federal courts court's final ruling last week we might as well not have a Big Ten or any other body trying to enforce standards of education At issue was Wilsons Wilson's eligibility to play for Illinois after k transferring there from Fullerton Junior College in California f- f this trus y year ar Big Ten rules dictated that he was ineligible Wilson Wilon and his attorney successfully argued that the rules governing junior college transfers were stricter than those governing transfers from other schools and therefore were discriminatory While the court said the conference rules on eligibility should not be enforced in Wilsons Wilson's case it did not deal with the larger issue of the conferences conference's right to make such rules in the first place Robert Auler Wilsons Wilson's lawyer says his rus legal action does attack the Big Tens Ten's and the right to impose eligibility rules But he doesn't expect the legal arguments in the case to start until early next year Auler clearly thinks trunks the courts court's recent decision bodes well for his rus challenge to the legal structure of college sports The story started when Wilson broke his rus arm the first game of his rus career at Fullerton Junior College in 1977 He was advised that he could save a year of eligibility for himself if he dropped f out of school that same first semester and take only eight credits in his rus second semester Thus when Wilson transferred to Illinois earlier this trus year he expected to be classified as a year third-year student eligible to play both the 1980 and 1981 seasons The university's own eligibility F committee agreed But the Big Tens Ten's faculty representatives decided that Wilsons Wilson's eligibility was effectively used up r The faculty representatives said Wilson needed 78 credit hours to get a special waiver to play playas as a year third-year student t overruling the university's decision that Wilson needed only 51 hours Wilson has earned 57 hours toward his rus degree Moreover and Big Ten rules require that most junior college transfers must lose a year of eligibility If the Big Ten representatives had their way the transfer rule would have forced Wilson to sit out this trus his rus last year of eligibility because he had played albeit just one game for Fullerton in 1977 Wilson of course took issue After a month-long month legal battle last week the District Appellate Court reinstated a temporary injunction against the Big Tens Ten's efforts to keep Wilson off the field this trus season Auler says the fight now is to make sure Wilson can play in 1981 The lawyer says hell he'll keep up the court battle until his client is free from the chains of the Auler contends that Wilson had a bona fide injury and should be given two more years of eligibility The he adds has violated the Amendment which guarantees equal protection by implementing its rule that athletes transferring from junior colleges lose a year of eligibility while athletes who transfer from year four-year schools only lose the right to participate in season post-season games if they played in more than 30 percent of a prior season The has set up a double standard of justice here Auler says Kids from junior colleges dont don't get the same kind of treatment that kids from big schools get While WillIe the guidelines technically allow the Big Ten to rule Wilson or any other athlete eligible for two more years the frowns on the practice The conferences Auler says follow the in these cases all the time He wonders Why would the Big Ten give him rum two more years when he could only play in bowl games during this trus 4 year And as the own Steve Morgan jokingly puts it when was the last time Illinois played in a bowl game Morgan who is the executive assistant in the enforcement division defends the rule as the best way to insure the accuracy of the transcripts and other information that L these smaller schools send to us Over the last year of course intercollegiate sports nave been rocked by allegations that more than a dozen Division I schools have helped doctor the transcripts of junior college players who otherwise would have been academically ineligible to play play- Still Morgan says the eligibility rule Wilson is is challenging can be changed by a vote of the membership If the University of Illinois wishes to change that rule they can bring it up at next years year's meeting Division I schools he recalls approved the rule now under fire at their January 1980 meeting |