Chicago State brothers sue NCAA over denied eligibility - ESPN

Twin brothers Matt and Ryan Bewley, former five-star prospects who signed to play basketball at Chicago State this season, sued the NCAA in federal court after they were denied eligibility for receiving money they say was generated from their name, image and likeness while competing for Overtime Elite Academy.

The federal antitrust lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Chicago on Wednesday, accuses the NCAA of violating its own NIL policies, the Illinois Student-Athlete Endorsement Rights Act and federal antitrust laws.

The brothers, who lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, before competing for Overtime Elite Academy in Atlanta, are seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction from a federal judge to compete for Chicago State, which opens the season Monday at Bowling Green.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman scheduled a hearing for Tuesday regarding the injunction.

Under pressure from state laws, the NCAA changed its rules in July 2021 to allow athletes to make money by selling the rights to their name, image and likeness. But according to the lawsuit, the Bewleys were declared ineligible because the NCAA says they were paid a salary. According to an email from the NCAA cited in the lawsuit, the twins' compensation from Overtime Elite exceeded actual and necessary expenses allowed under the NCAA's rules; they competed for a team that considered itself professional; and they competed with and against other pros.

The Bewleys' attorneys claimed the twins sold their NIL rights to Overtime Elite Academy and were compensated for them.

«The NCAA simply ignores this undisputed fact because the compensation package is described as a 'salary' in the Bewleys' contract while later versions of the OTE contract