NCAA Rejects Williams’s Bid for Reinstatement
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
LOS ANGELES – The NCAA refused to reinstate Southern California All-American Mike Williams yesterday, leaving the star wide receiver unable to rejoin the Trojans after being shut out of the NFL draft by the courts.
The school had applied to the NCAA for a progress-toward-degree waiver and reinstatement of Williams’s eligibility.
The 20-year-old Williams caught 95 passes for 1,314 yards and a school-record 16 touchdowns as a sophomore last season to help the Trojans (12-1) win the national title.
After a court ruled that last winter that Ohio State’s Maurice Clarett was eligible to play in the NFL, Williams left USC, hired an agent, and said he was turning pro. That made him ineligible to play for the Trojans.
Williams was projected as a high first-round draft pick, but on May 24, an appeals court overturned the earlier ruling and upheld the NFL’s right to bar players who had been out of high school for less than three years.
After the appeals court ruling, Williams severed ties with his agent and began the process of applying to the NCAA for reinstatement. He returned to USC and took summer classes, seeking to have his academic eligibility also restored.
