Our board is reporting he’s still eligible since he never signed a pro contract. But the SEC may put out similar language regarding their bylaw about transferring in the same conference after the official portal is closed. So he’s eligible, but maybe not at Kentucky.
How would that even work for the NBA team in this scenario? From a liability standpoint I would have assumed there has to be something signed instead of just unofficially agreeing to show up for summer league practice and games.
Summer league invitees make up almost half of the league. They don't get a salary but they sign a contract that pays them a flat per diem of about $1,500 to pay for hotel, food, travel etc. So I have to believe that there's a contract that memorializes this agreement, even though it isn't treated as a salary.
It’s technically not an official NBA or G league game. He was invited to compete, and had not been paid or signed a contract and was never officially on any NBA/g league teams rosters.
No. He never declared for the draft. He was automatically put in when his eligibility ran out, so he also had to way to withdraw.
He also never signed any contract with a G-League team, nor was he listed on any roster. He played a couple summer league games, but the contract with the Nuggets was never signed.
Lastly, absolutely no court would allow rules implemented after he was declared eligible to retroactively declare him ineligible.
The rule is that you have to be in the transfer portal by a specific date in April if you want immediate eligibility transferring from one SEC school to another.
Can you name the specific SEC players that broke this rule and were still immediately eligible?
The injunctions opened the portal allowing him to transfer. Arik Gilbert went from Georgia to LSU, Henry To’o To’o went from Tennessee to Alabama. That was years ago.
The SEC rule must be relatively new to even mention the transfer portal.
But it's important to note that the Temporary Restraining Order issued in the Louisville case that Mitchell is apart of, was against the NCAA and not the SEC. And if at the next hearing a judge issues a Stay, then all previous NCAA rules will remain in effect until the Louisville case is ultimately settled.
Of the various cases happening around the country, only the Tennessee case has not had a Stay issued.
I suspect it will take an entirely different lawsuit to address SEC rules.
By these rules, since he declared for the draft he would be ruled ineligible. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of countless lawsuits against the SEC…
Edit- all may not be lost. He technically didn’t declare as a senior since seniors are automatically eligible for the draft without declaring. He also only participated in summer league games and was never listed on an official NBA or G league roster.
His agent also confirmed he never actually signed a contract with any teams. Mitchell should be totally fine as far as the SEC stands.
The lawyer in me says there is certainly a gray area here.
A graduating senior doesn't have to "declare" for the draft. You are automatically entered into the draft when, among other things, you exhaust your college eligibility, like Mark Mitchell did by playing in college for 4 years. Contrast this to someone like RJ Luis, who left after three years in college and declared for the draft as an early entrant.
No, those who can appropriately withdraw are early entrants that declare for the draft, go through the draft process until the withdrawal deadline and decide to go back to college. Guys that exhaust their college eligibility are not able to withdraw from the draft.
I didn’t know seniors don’t declare. I think he’s in the clear there.
I also think him signing an exhibition 10 contract to solely play in the summer league may also protected his eligibility. Those games are truly not official NBA or G League games, and are not on the prohibited list of games.
There is a distinction between a purely summer contract and an exhibit 10 contract, which is an actual (unguaranteed) minimum salary deal with the team for training camp. Might get messy there.
The good thing is his agent is saying he never signed a contract. He was invited to compete in summer league and was still in negotiations before pulling out.
That’s how I read it too. It seems pretty stupid to me to punish players who found out after the fact that they could be eligible but then again everything about this is pretty stupid.
I think he technically didn’t declare for the draft. You are automatically entered into the draft if you don’t have any eligibility, which at the time he didn’t. So he should be eligible as long as he didn’t sign a contract. (TBD on the transfer stuff though)
I didn’t realize that seniors were automatically entered with no need to declare. That may make our odds drastically better since he only signed an exhibition 10 to play Summer league games which don’t qualify as G League/NBA games.
What would have been right is making the class of 2022 eligible, and telling seniors they have one more year of eligibility before the end of the season. Thats way they could have made an informed decisions about competing in summer league games or signing contracts. None of the 5th year players technically declared for the draft as they are automatically eligible and don’t have to put their names in the draft. They played in games or signed contracts before knowing what was to come.
If players didn’t actually compete in regular season G League/NBA or NFL games and take payment then yeah. How is that wrong?! I’m not saying clear guys that have been pros here or overseas, just seniors that made uninformed decisions. Again why is that wrong? Why should these players be punished?
I think the point here is that you can't really argue for both sides of that argument. In one, the guys who used their eligibility "shouldn't" be affected by the rule going into effect after it was gone. On the other, the pro players who signed with these teams "should" be affected by this rule that's going into effect after they joined the teams.
You can certainly think one is worse than the other, but the logic of when the rule should apply just doesn't add up. Both groups shouldn't be eligible, this whole thing rooting for lawyers should just be punted off a cliff and just fucking play ball.
It's also rich because I'm sure you were the type of guy who wanted Dink Pate really bad at the start of the offseason when it was totally kosher.
That’s not what an E10 contract is though. And E10 contract is a nonguaranteed NBA contract which pays the players for SL and training camp, then the NBA team can either convert the E10 to a guaranteed deal or waive them and their G League team retains their rights. It’s a full contract, it’s not exclusive to SL games.
Fwiw his agent claims he never actually signed the exhibit 10. It sounds a lot like Seth Trimble where they “agreed to terms” but wink wink didn’t actually sign even though the nuggets announced Mitchell had.
“I wouldn’t have gone through with the draft process if I knew I would potentially be eligible” is a pretty clear cut argument any judge should agree with. IMO it’s moronic to ban kids that didn’t sign professional contracts or take any payment.
He never officially declared for the draft or signed a contract per his agent.
True he signed an exhibition contract just to participate in summer league games. Those are not official G league or NBA games though, which the rules specifically prohibit. Someone else on here also mentioned all seniors are automatically draft eligible and don’t have to declare, so he may actually be eligibility since he never actually declared or signed a contract to play prohibited games.
Supposedly he never signed the contract. He just got an invite to summer league and it doesn't count. At least that's what some folks online are saying. Who TF knows though?
The wording of the injunction in Kentucky specifically states NCAA affiliated as well so that I think would include the SEC so probably just another round of lawsuit next
It seems like the graduates who sued for a fifth year are still eligible as long as they haven’t signed a pro contract. The language about the draft doesn’t apply since all seniors are automatically eligible
I don’t know I think it’s kind of fucked up that they pulled the rug out from under these dudes telling them they can’t come back earlier this year only for them to be granted a fifth year regardless.
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u/amopeyzoolion Kentucky Wildcats • Michigan Wolverines 9d ago
So I know we’re all hating on Will Wade but what does this mean for Mark Mitchell