Court pauses agent’s attempt to question Duke’s Zion Williamson about NCAA eligibility
A Florida appellate court ruled Thursday that Zion Williamson doesn’t, for now, have to answer questions from his former agent about possible NCAA rules violations.
Two days after a Florida Circuit Court judge ruled questions regarding his eligibility at Duke should be answered as part of a contract dispute with his former agent, the Third District Court of Appeals granted an urgent motion to stay those proceedings, according to court documents.
The No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft, Williamson is involved in two civil lawsuits with Gina Ford and Prime Sports Marketing.
Ford claims Williamson owes her $100 million for breaking the contract he signed with her in April 2019 for endorsement representation. Williamson signed with CAA group a month later.
He sued her in a Greensboro federal court in June 2019, saying he owed her nothing for breaking the deal because she violated North Carolina’s Uniform Athlete-Agent Act by, among other things, not being registered as an agent in the state.
Ford filed a lawsuit in state court in Florida seeking enforcement of the contract Williamson signed. She admits not being registered as an agent in North Carolina, but says Williamson shouldn’t be protected by the state’s agent law because he had violated his NCAA eligibility prior to joining Duke in 2018.
Ford claims, without presenting evidence, Williamson or his family received improper benefits to play at Duke.
The NCAA ruled Williamson eligible in 2018 and he was named the ACC player of the year while leading the Blue Devils to a 32-6 record and the ACC championship in his lone college season.
Duke says it investigated Williamson, including a deep dive into his family’s finances, both before and after his college playing career and found no evidence his eligibility was compromised.
In arguing before Judge David C. Miller in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami on Tuesday, Williamson’s attorney Jeffery Klein said the federal case in North Carolina, since it was filed first, should be allowed to proceed before any discovery occurs in the Florida case.
Miller ruled the questions Ford has for Williamson about his eligibility should be answered.
But the Court of Appeals reversed that ruling, placing a temporary stay on Ford’s case in the Florida court system against Williamson.
Williamson’s attorneys have called Ford’s claims about his eligibility a “fishing expedition.”
Ford and her attorneys have 10 days to file a response to Thursday’s action.