One of Florida’s top elected officials is pressuring the NCAA and threatening litigation over candidates’ eligibility. State of Florida transfer Darrell Jackson.
Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker on Tuesday asking for details on waivers for Jackson and another transfer, receiver from North Carolina Tez Walker.
Both transferred twice, and both were initially deemed ineligible because of it. But the NCAA reversed its decision regarding Walker earlier this month. citing “new information” he received. Jackson stays away for the Seminoles No. 4which Patronis – an FSU alumnus – called a “double standard.”
“They are really destroying this young man,” Patronis said Wednesday in an interview, “and I don’t even know if they really think about it that way.”
Patronis is trying to do something about it. His letter to the NCAA served as a public request for documents related to both cases. Because the cases didn’t take place in a courtroom, he doesn’t see how the facts or arguments around Walker’s case differ from Jackson’s.
Patronis wrote that all documents provided by the NCAA “will assist the State in the discovery phase of any necessary legal proceedings.”
“Going through the litigation route would be painful,” Patronis told the Tampa Bay Times. “It would entail expenses. And if that’s what the NCAA wants to do, then by golly, we’re going to do it.
Jackson originally signed with Maryland as a three-star defensive lineman in the 2021 class. He recorded 22 tackles in 13 games (one start) with the Terrapins before being traded to Miami, where he started every game last year.
Darrell Jackson started at Miami last season before transferring to Florida State.
( LYNNE SLADKY | AP (2022) )
In December, he decided to transfer to FSU. Both Jackson And his mother I said he did it because she was ill; his family is from Gadsden County, just outside of Tallahassee.
Because Jackson already used up his only free transfer, he needed a waiver to immediately play at FSU. The NCAA denied it in August, but he will be allowed to play in the postseason. after the end of the fall semester.
“It was hurtful, because I know why I came home,” Jackson told reporters at the time. “I came home to my mother.”
The timing of Jackson’s transfer is also important to Patronis. Jackson made his decision before a vote in January by the NCAA Division I Council to crack down on the eligibility of double transfers.
“They pulled the rug out from under this guy,” Patronis said. “From top to bottom, it stinks.”
Walker was in a similar situation at North Carolina after moving from North Carolina Central to Kent State to the Tar Heels. Patronis — and much of the college football world — still don’t know what changed for the NCAA to reverse its decision. Walker has scored four touchdowns in the three games since he took the field for No. 17 North Carolina, which, like FSU, is an ACC championship contender.
“There is this lack of consistency from the NCAA that, to me, is just unacceptable,” Patronis said.
North Carolina wide receiver Tez Walker scored four touchdowns for the Tar Heels.
( CHRIS SEWARD | P.A. )
This question falls outside Patronis’ professional scope as CFO, but he is interested in it for several reasons. When the Tokyo Olympics were postponed due to the pandemic, he became aware of the brevity of athletes’ careers. He worries about the impact on Jackson’s mental health and said the move “literally deprives him” of the opportunity to make money from name, image and likeness (NIL).
If necessary, Patronis said he would discuss antitrust laws with the Florida attorney general’s office.
“Do I want to go?” No,” Patronis said. “I hate suing people. It’s not funny. But what we’re talking about is doing the right thing, and the right thing is letting Darrell play.
Patronis is at least the second state politician to get involved. In August, Senator Marco Rubio sent his own letter to Baker asking the NCAA to reconsider its decision because the decision “sends the wrong message to our young adults dealing with family health.”
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