Devin Pugh Files Federal Lawsuit Against NCAA: Latest Details, Reaction

Former Weber State Wildcats football player Devin Pugh has filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA challenging the organization's transfer and scholarship rules, citing a breach of antitrust laws.

According to the Associated Press' Tom Coyne, Pugh alleged NCAA rules requiring student-athletes to sit out for a year after transferring are unlawful. Additionally, Pugh cited university scholarship caps—85 for FBS schools and 63 for those residing in the FCS—as another component of the antitrust violations. 

"Student-athletes who jockey for these scholarships suffer severe penalties for transferring, while NCAA coaches are allowed to job-hop, reaping enormous financial benefits and rising to earn more than $3 million per year," attorney Steve Berman said in a statement, per Coyne.

Pugh's complaint reportedly stems from his experience at Weber State. According to Coyne, the former cornerback played for the Wildcats on a scholarship that former head coach Ron McBride said "would be renewed annually as long as he did well academically and remained eligible." 

However, when Jody Sears took over for McBride as head coach, Pugh asserts his scholarship was not renewed, which led to a painstaking transfer to Colorado State-Pueblo. Upon transferring, Pugh alleged the monetary value of his scholarship decreased from when he attended Weber State, thus forcing his loan payments to spike.

"The lawsuit seeks class-action status, contending the NCAA's prohibition on multiyear scholarships has injured thousands of athletes by causing them to pay millions more in tuition when their scholarships are reduced or not renewed," Coyne added. 

Should more former NCAA athletes join Pugh as part of a class-action filing in an effort to shift the NCAA's operating procedures, the profile of the case could grow exponentially.