Virginity Restored? Mike Williams

"Williams decison due in 10 days...Southern Cal officials are indicating they expect a decision as to whether star junior WR Mike Williams will be re-instated by the NCAA... Williams, who forfeited his eligibility when he signed with an agent prior to the draft, is in football limbo, something he is trying to escape having applied to the NCAA for re-instatement." - gbnreport.com

He is practicing with the team, but still no word on his eligibility.

The best player in college football was back in action Wednesday morning. But just because USC wideout Mike Williams was participating in the Trojans' first practice, making one-handed snatch catches and rag-dolling helpless DBs, doesn't necessarily mean the all-American is any closer to being green-lighted by the NCAA.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=feldman_bruce&id=1852231

So what is the verdict on Williams? From the things I've read and the way I understood it, it seemed that he got caught up in a bad situation.
I hope that he gets reinstated at USC and has a productive year.

One factor in his reinstatement is he is required to return all the money he received from his agent, believed to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Are we really supposed to believe that he received this money and didn't spend any ... didn't to buy a car (s), or a place to stay, or food. If it sat in a bank, why did he require his agent to give him the money? If he spent any, how did he get the money to pay the agent back? From USC boosters?

This is a mess and a can of worms. I don't believe he should be reinstated. It's not fair to other ELIGIBLE college athletes, particularly the student who loses a scholarship so he can 'train' with USC this fall.

If he was wronged, he should seek reinbursement from the NFL, or his advisors. If he wasn't wronged, just relax Mike. You'll be fine after the next draft.

You are right Mistril48, the money issue is a big sticking point.

USC just might want to steer clear of potential problems if there is no way to resolve them.. can't give back what you've spent. I'm sure they don't want to think of having to forfeit games if it came down to following that money trail ..
Oh well, next year at this time Williams can go on his merry way into the NFL.
I guess he'll be fine.

ESPN News just reported that Mike Williams will not be reinstated. Here's an article I found confirming it.

NCAA denies reinstatement request for Mike Williams
By JOHN NADEL, AP Sports Writer
August 26, 2004

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Southern California wide receiver Mike Williams has had his request to be reinstated denied Thursday by the NCAA.

USC spokeswoman Vicky Hammond said the school had applied to the NCAA for a progress-toward-degree waiver and reinstatement of Williams' eligibility.

The ruling came down shortly before the top-ranked Trojans boarded an airplane for Baltimore. They open their season Saturday night against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.

Williams caught 95 passes for 1,314 yards and a school-record 16 touchdowns last season to help the Trojans (12-1) win the national championship.

The 20-year-old Williams, an sure-handed 6-foot-5, 230-pounder, finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy balloting as a sophomore last year.

After a court ruled that Ohio State's Maurice Clarett was eligible to play in the NFL, Williams left USC in the spring, hired an agent and said he was turning pro. That made him ineligible to play for the Trojans.

He was projected as a high 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.

Williams has been out of high school less than three years, as has Clarett, who was suspended last season after starring at Ohio State as a freshman.

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.

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Mike Williams Denied Reinstatement

just heard it on SR610, too

I feel for the kid. He was merely doing as the courts had ruled at the time. I understand there was an inherent risk in entering the NFL Draft, but its seems as if the NCAA could reinstate him based on the unusual circumstances. The NCAA is a joke. They allow players to play minor league baseball and collect checks, but won't allow Bloom to earn money from his sport through sponsors. Mike Williams made every attempt to earn his reinstatement, but in the end the NCAA made yet another bad call.

Like you said, there is an inherent risk involved with trying to go pro. He struck out. Boo hoo, now he will have to wait a year to be a pro and make millions of dollars. Poor kid. I feel for him... wait no.

He ought to take a page from the Ricky William's book. He should just go have some fun this year off (while still staying in shape). Travel the world and relax. I'm sure his new agent will float him some cash to do that.

Get that stuff out of his system because the NFL will have his hind for the next 10-15 years after that.

TheOgre said:

He ought to take a page from the Ricky William's book. He should just go have some fun this year off (while still staying in shape). Travel the world and relax. I'm sure his new agent will float him some cash to do that.

Get that stuff out of his system because the NFL will have his hind for the next 10-15 years after that.

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Yeah if by "stay in shape" you mean smoking tons of weed.

I knew a guy in high school that actually smoked weed before he worked out. Weird huh? Somehow it worked because he was buff.

I have nothing against MIke Williams, but I'm glad he wasn't reinstated. College football should be for amateurs. He decided to gamble on the NFL and (so far) has lost. Maybe he'll still win a lawsuit against the NFL. He'll soon be making millions, but I don't think he should be destroying college sports for others. The NCAA has more cleaning up to do, but shouldn't take a step backwards.

NCAA finally gets one right.

Mistril48 said:

I have nothing against MIke Williams, but I'm glad he wasn't reinstated. College football should be for amateurs. He decided to gamble on the NFL and (so far) has lost. Maybe he'll still win a lawsuit against the NFL. He'll soon be making millions, but I don't think he should be destroying college sports for others. The NCAA has more cleaning up to do, but shouldn't take a step backwards.

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that would be fine Mistril, if the same rules applied to all NCAA sports. Basketball players and baseball players can enter a draft, and if they don't like their slot, return to school, as long as they don't hire an agent. Make it a level playing field first, then unilatterally apply the rule.

Ediddy73 said:

...as long as they don't hire an agent...

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Mike Williams hired an agent ... and took a lot of money from him. It would strain credibility if it was alleged he somehow paid it back.

I don't really know enough about how the NCAA rules got to where they are in other sports to comment. Let's get it right on football and then fix the others if necessary.

Remember, what appears to be a loss for Williams is a win for some other student athlete, who hasn't taken money from an agent and actually was in school.

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/features/mikewilliams.html

After much anticipation the NCAA finally made their long-awaited ruling on the case of U.S.C. wide receiver Mike Williams, denying a request to restore his college eligibility. As most of you probably know, Williams entered the NFL Draft and hired an agent on the heels of a ruling in Maurice Clarett's case against the NFL regarding the leagues underclassmen rule but was left in limbo when that was overturned. As I have said all along, I never thought the NCAA would show much leniency in this case because they haven't with somewhat similar situations in the past (i.e. Donte' Stallworth) and also because doing so would be starting on a very slippery slope and setting a very dangerous precedent.

This obviously begs the question "What is next" for Williams? Simply put, I wouldn't shed too many tears for him because his future is still extremely bright. Williams could go and play in the CFL but he has said that isn't an option, which is probably smart considering the risk of injury involved. What this basically boils down to is Williams now gets an early start on training for the NFL Scouting Combine and workouts, which could be a blessing in disguise. Training to run the forty yard dash is much different than normal football training so it may allow Williams to whittle down his forty time, which is basically the only knock on his game at this point. If you remember, Williams was only able to run in the 4.6 range in the forty in a private workout leading up to the 2004 Draft before he was declared ineligible, yet he was still considered a lock for the Top 10-15 overall picks in an extremely strong year for wide receivers.

What this doesn't change is Mike Williams' talent as he is still one of the premier pro prospects in the nation. Even with missing a year of football I still feel Williams will be the top wideout available in the 2005 NFL Draft, a legitimate candidate for the #1 overall pick and a lock for the top 5-10 overall.

- Scott Wright of NFL Draft Countdown

true, but as far as the NCAA is concerned with football, entering the draft is forgoing all remaining eligibility, agent or no agent. True it might have been easier if he didn't hire an agent, but under the rules set forth by the Federal court at the time, Williams was entirely elligible for the draft, then they changed the rules....again.

Ediddy73 said:

...but under the rules set forth by the Federal court at the time, Williams was entirely elligible for the draft, then they changed the rules....again.

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Underline mine
My point is that the NCAA didn't change any rules and they should be protecting amateurs, like the student athlete who will get the scholarship instead of Williams.

Williams complaint should be with the NFL, whose eligibility rules 'changed.' They are the ones who should make the gesture, not the NCAA. If the NFL feels they warned Williams of this situation and he took the risk anyway, then he lost a bet and should relax. He'll soon have his millions.

These weren't ordinary circumstances by any means. He was within his rights to do what he did. Granted he did so knowing there was a risk it would be overturned. I wouldn't knock the NCAA if they took the same approach across all sports. They're cleary setting a double standard with college atheletes. They refuse to differentiate between sports. They allow minor league baseball players to cash in checks, and then a person like Bloom whose income is dependent upon sponsors in a sport such as skiing is excluded from playing. I don't think anyone is under the impression that the NCAA is a flawless entity, but with moves such as this it certainly makes it look like a dated organization that has outlived its usefulness. It doesn't appear to have adapted at all to the modern state of sports, and it must be corrected if collegiate atheletics is to resemble the ideal and 'pure state' that we all cherrish. Even though the ideal and 'pure state' seems to be based more in fantasy than reality.

I thought that a judge's ruling changed the NFL's rule (due to Clarrett's lawsuit) but, it was then changed back after the NFL appealled. Looks like he gambled and lost (for now). I really didn't pay that much attention to the situation so I'll defer to you that did.