North Carolina

NCAA picks up major legal victories in multiple key eligibility lawsuits

Published

11 months ago

April 23, 2025

NCAA picks up major legal victories in multiple key eligibility lawsuits

In legal victories for the NCAA, a judge denied an injunction for Duke and North Carolina athletes in two eligibility lawsuits. The cases were both filed in North Carolina Business Court in Durham County, N.C.

Judge Matthew T. Houston declined to grant a preliminary injunction in Jones v. NCAA and Smith v. NCAA. Four athletes – UNC football player JJ Jones and Duke football players Ryan Smith, Cam Bergeron and Tre’Shon Devones – filed the suits and challenged the NCAA’s “five-year rule,” which gives most athletes four seasons on a roster over five years, barring injury exemptions or waivers.

The NCAA denied Smith, Bergeron and Devones’ waiver requests, but Jones is still waiting on an answer. They brought the suits on the same day, April 3, in Durham County and are being heard together – Jones and Bergeron are listed as plaintiffs in the Jones suit, while Smith and Devones are plaintiffs in the Smith case. The players argued they should receive an extra year due to factors such as mental and physical struggles, a lack of playing time or struggling to adjust to academic standards.

However, during Tuesday’s hearing, Houston cited a lack of sufficient evidence to support granting a preliminary injunction. That means the NCAA’s rules will still be enforced as written. Because the players are all NFL Draft-eligible, they can either wait for the case to proceed out or head to the NFL.

“That plaintiffs have ultimately presented a possibility, certainly sufficient evidence of a possibility of prevailing on the merits,” Houston said from the bench, via WRAL News’ Brian Murphy. “I think the evidence and record at this point is not sufficient to support a finding that there is a likelihood of prevailing on the merits and it’s largely an issue of what the record supports.”

Devones played six years of college football entering 2025, starting his career at Rice in 2019 and transferring to Duke in 2024. During that time, he has played in 45 games, although he missed the 2021 season due to an injury. By redshirting that year, he had one more season on top of the COVID-19 waiver from the impacted 2020 campaign.

Smith was teammates with Devones and Bergeron in 2019 at Duke as part of his five-year career, which also included the 2020 season. He appeared in 56 games during that time, including three starts. Bergeron, meanwhile, played in 46 games over five years and put together an impressive 2024 season with 83 tackles.

Jones just completed his fourth season at UNC and has nearly 1,800 career yards. However, according to WRAL, there’s “disagreement” about how many games he played as a true freshman in 2021.

The Jones and Smith cases are the latest in a line of eligibility lawsuits the NCAA is facing. A notable one is ongoing in New Jersey as Rutgers player Jett Elad filed suit challenging the five-year rule, claiming he was offered $500,000 to play for the Scarlet Knights this year and the NCAA’s inconsistent approach to waivers is keeping him from earning those NIL dollars.

As the suits continue to go through the process, a group of college basketball players without eligibility were proactive and entered the transfer portal before the window closed Tuesday. If the NCAA’s eligibility rules shift after a judge’s ruling, those athletes could get another year.

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North Carolina

Gov. Stein proposes $1.4B ‘critical needs’ budget for North Carolina

Published

3 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Gov. Stein proposes .4B ‘critical needs’ budget for North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (WLOS) — With North Carolina still without a new state budget, Gov. Josh Stein is urging state lawmakers to approve a $1.4 billion “Critical Needs Budget.” Stein says this budget will address the state’s most urgent priorities while the General Assembly works on a full spending plan.

“North Carolina has gone nearly two and a half years without passing a new state budget – the only state in the country to finish 2025 without one[…]This budget invests in critical public safety, education and health care services for the people of North Carolina that cannot wait,” Gov. Stein said in a press release Monday.

A major part of Stein’s proposal is $319 million to fully fund Medicaid, which provides health coverage to over three million North Carolinians. This program also supports rural hospitals, nursing homes and statewide health care providers, per the release.

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The “Critical Needs Budget” would target public safety staffing and pay. According to the governor’s office, North Carolina currently ranks 49th in starting salaries for state troopers and correctional officers, and low pay has contributed to staffing shortages and vacancy rates. This budget would bring pay raises to correctional officers, law enforcement officers, probation and parole officers and more.

Stein’s proposed budget calls for raising starting and average teacher pay, as well as increasing pay for senior teachers and other education staff. The governor’s office said the state remains in the bottom 10 nationally in average teacher pay.

The budget proposal also includes pay increases for state employees and a cost-of-living adjustment for retired state employees, citing rising inflation costs and increasing health care premiums. Stein’s plan also includes targeted funding to maintain essential services, such as support for child care access and affordability.

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North Carolina

The North Carolina Arboretum’s “Spring Into the Arb” returns for year two

Published

16 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

The North Carolina Arboretum’s “Spring Into the Arb” returns for year two

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The North Carolina Arboretum has announced a new season of “Spring Into the Arb!”

The “Spring Into the Arb!” is in its second year, with its series of plant shows and sales, science and nature activities, music, and art, allowing people to reemerge and reconnect with nature.

The season begins with Nature Play Day on Saturday, March 14, continuing through April, May, and June with new activities every weekend.

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According to a news release, throughout the season, guests can enjoy the following:

Asheville Orchid Festival, annual Ikebana and Rose shows
Purchase plants at the Spring Plant Sale and Market
Get back to their native roots with Native Azalea Day, Mountain Science Expo, and Nature Play Day

The series culminates with Bonsai in the Blue Ridge in June, according to the release.

The release says guests and members are invited to drop in on the newly-opened Arbor Eatery in the Arboretum’s Education Center, which is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Hours extend to 5 p.m. beginning April 1.

Spring Into the Arb events and programs are included with the regular Arboretum parking fee of $25 per vehicle. Arboretum Society Members get in free.

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According to the release, additional admission is required for the Asheville Orchid Festival and Bonsai in the Blue Ridge.

A full list of the Spring Into the Arb 2026 events includes:

Nature Play Day: March 14
Asheville Orchid Festival: March 28 to 29
Music in the Mountains Day: April 4
Arbor Day Celebration: April 11
Native Azalea Day: April 18
Mountain Science Expo: April 25
World Bonsai Day: May 9
Change of Seasons: Spring into Ikebana: May 16 to 17
The Asheville-Blue Ridge Rose Society Exhibition: May 22 to 24
The Arb in Focus: 40 Views for 40 Years: Opening May 23
Spring Plant Sale and Market: May 29 to 30
Bonsai in the Blue Ridge: June 4 to 7

For more information, visit here.

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North Carolina

Michael Jordan North Carolina “Sports Illustrated” cover sells for record $229k

Published

1 day ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Michael Jordan North Carolina “Sports Illustrated” cover sells for record 9k

A copy of Michael Jordan’s 1983 “Sports Illustrated” cover debut sold for $229,360 on Saturday night at Goldin, obliterating the previous record for a graded magazine.

Before Saturday, the previous record was the $126,000 paid for Jordan’s 1984 SI debut in a Bulls uniform entitled “A Star Is Born.”

“Sports Illustrated” magazines are very common and people kept them, but collectors narrowed the category by making rarer newsstand copies most collectible, and graded condition of those copies to narrow the most desirable down further.

Then, in July, came PSA to challenge CGC in the grading space.

The record UNC Jordan, with teammate Sam Perkins on the cover, was the only PSA 9.6. The question is, with PSA’s grading just beginning, are there others our there?

It’s possible, but that Jordan issue presents a challenge because it has a gatefold that makes it more challenging to press out defects.

The big price will likely create a group of opportunists who will now take raw subscription copies of this issue and get them graded for potential arbitrage.

But it won’t be that easy. A CGC 8.0 newsstand edition sold for $4,636 in October.

Whether the big price also creates more grading and selling of rare magazines remains to be seen, but PSA’s entrance into the space has definitely turned heads.

PSA has graded more than 50 of this particular issue, the second most commonly graded after the “Star is Born” issue.

Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country’s leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.

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