The ongoing court battle to regain eligibility for two Idaho State football players effectively came to a conclusion Tuesday, with a federal judge denying an injunction that would have given an extra season to the two ISU players.
U.S. District Judge David Nye denied a request by Idaho State football players Alex Ramirez and Maka Tu'Akoi for a preliminary injunction against the NCAA, which would have allowed them to play another season while their federal antitrust lawsuits worked their way through the court system.
Earlier, Nye had issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA which would have allowed Ramirez and Tu'Akoi to play, but Idaho State made the decision not to use the two players in wins over Utah State and the University of San Diego.
"We found out yesterday those guys are ineligible, so they won't be able to go," said Idaho State head coach Cody Hawkins Wednesday. "We could have theoretically played Alex (Ramirez) while the temporary restraining order was in place … But I want to be careful. I didn't want to get in a situation where hey, it's not the right thing to do. I didn't want to win on a technicality. So that's why Alex hasn't played in the last two games."
Ramirez, a 6-foot-1, 285-pound center from Modesto, California, and Tu'Akoi, a 6-foot-6, 236-pound defensive end from Salt Lake City, were looking to get another year of eligibility based on past court rulings that discounted junior college participation as part of the NCAA's previous eligibility rules.
Ramirez and Tu'Akoi argued that denying them another season of eligibility was a violation of federal antitrust law by the NCAA, because it denied the players the opportunity to earn money through scholarships, name, image and likeness deals and revenue sharing, and the NCAA holds an illegal monopoly on such opportunities.
In August, Judge Nye issued a temporary restraining order that would have allowed the players to play at least until a hearing on their case was held. At that time, Hawkins said Ramirez had not participated in enough practice to allow him to play in the Bengals' season-opener against Virginia Military Institute.
ISU then chose not to play them in their next two games, choosing instead to see if the judge granted them a preliminary injunction, which would indicate they were likely to ultimately win their case against the NCAA.
But on Sept. 9, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion that a higher amount of market analysis is needed in order to get a preliminary injunction in these types of eligibility cases involving antitrust law. Applying that Ninth Circuit ruling to the Ramirez and Tu'Akoi cases, Nye then ruled that the players hadn't provided enough evidence of market analysis to generate a preliminary injunction.
So their Idaho State football careers are over. Both remain in school at ISU, with Tu'Akoi, who played in 11 games and had 4.5 tackles for a loss last season, expecting to graduate with a bachelor's degree in December. Ramirez, who started all 12 games at center for ISU last year, is expected to earn a master's degree, also in December.
"It didn't go his way, but he'll be around," Hawkins said of Ramirez, who wants to pursue a coaching career. "He'll be a GA (graduate assistant) for us, and he'll be coaching. He's going to have a long and successful career coaching. So even though it's a bummer, we're still excited to have him in the program."
Interestingly, Judge Nye used a football analogy, with a nod to the recent controversial ending of the Michigan-Western Michigan game, to say that he probably would have ruled in their favor had not the Ninth Circuit opinion been issued.
"Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, there is no instant replay on the Ninth Circuit's decision, and not even one second will be added to their game clocks," Nye wrote.