Paxton to remain on team; case involves MLB draft
December 4, 2009 by BW Jones · 2 Comments
Senior pitcher James Paxton will remain on the UK baseball team as his lawsuit with the university unfolds, attorneys in the case decided Thursday.
“The university met with us yesterday and agreed James is going to continue to be able to fully participate and practice with the baseball team,” said Tom Miller, one of Paxton’s attorneys.
Paxton will not have his scholarship affected by the lawsuit and will not be suspended or disciplined because of it, Miller said. The next court date will be Jan. 15.
Miller said Paxton was quite pleased with the results of the case so far, and is happy to rejoin his teammates.
“I think he’s very happy,” Miller said. “He loves the university and he loves his coach and his teammates.”
Affidavits in the case appear to indicate Paxton was supposed to meet with an NCAA investigator to discuss his use of advisers during negotiations after being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays.
A June 11 story in the National Post newspaper in Ontario said Paxton was believed to be using MLB Scott Boras to negotiate with the Blue Jays.
Paxton, the 37th overall pick, did not sign with the Blue Jays and eventually decided to return to UK for his senior season.
Paxton still has not been notified specifically as to what NCAA investigators wanted to meet with him about, though senior associate athletic director Sandy Bell told Paxton it had to do with the Blue Jays.
One of Paxton’s lawyers, Richard G. Johnson, represented an Oklahoma State pitcher, Andrew Oliver, in a similar case earlier this year. Oliver eventually settled with the NCAA for $750,000.
Oliver was ruled ineligible by the NCAA after using advisers to help in negotiations with an MLB team when he was drafted out of high school. Oliver eventually decided not to sign with the team and went to Oklahoma State instead.
According to the affidavits, Barnhart told one of Paxton’s lawyers, Peter Ostermiller of Louisville, that Paxton’s case was “both similar to and not similar to” Oliver’s case. Barnhart arrived unnanounced at Ostermiller’s firm in Louisville on Nov. 18 and told a secretary Paxton would not be able to play unless he met with the investigator.
In a news release, Johnson said the NCAA is violating the precedent established after the Oliver case.
“The conduct here is simply outrageous, and it is occurring within the larger context of the NCAA sending out the attached questionnaires in an attempt to prove to the world that the Andy Oliver case doesn’t matter to them,” Johnson said.
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] Ben Jones of the Kentucky Kernel is still all over the James Paxton story, and he reports today that Paxton will remain with the team as the lawsuit progresses. “The university met with us yesterday and agreed James is going to continue to be able to fully participate and practice with the baseball team,” Tom Miller, one of Paxton’s attorneys, told Jones. (Read more) [...]
[...] Just as Oliver was a standout pitcher for Oklahoma State, Paxton is the #1 pitcher for the University of Kentucky. Oliver was informed of his violation before the NCAA laid down a penalty. Paxton was not as fortunate. A University of Kentucky employee basically told Paxton that he would have to sit out from playing and would lose his financial aid if he refused to meet with NCAA investigators for a violation that the NCAA would not disclose. The employee informed Paxton that when a basketball player cooperated with the NCAA, he only received a 6-game suspension instead of having to sit out the entire year. Recently, UK has stated that Paxton will not have to sit out. [...]