2-in-4 rule
still stuck in court
The fate of the NCAA's "2-in-4" rule and that of some preseason college basketball tournaments will soon be in the hands of a judge in Ohio.
Oral arguments in a hearing on whether to keep the rule in place wrapped up on Thursday before U.S. District Court judge Edmund A. Sargus in Columbus, Ohio.
Written exhibits must be submitted by July 7 and a decision is expected to come soon after.
"He's told us twice that he felt pressure to make a decision soon," said Lee Frederick of Sports Tours International, one of the plaintiffs in the case. "We would love to have some decision so we might be able to scrounge up some tournaments."
The 2-in-4 rule limits schools to two appearances in certified tournaments -- like the Rainbow Classic, Maui Invitational and others hosted by local small colleges -- over a four-year period.
Schools are not allowed to play in the same tournament more than once over that span.
The NCAA implemented the rule in 2000 to give more schools an opportunity to play in such tournaments and maintain relatively uniform schedule lengths.
The plaintiffs argued that the rule has caused tournaments to fold in the second half of the cycle due to a lack of eligible teams and violates antitrust laws.
Sargus denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction last year, but put off a hearing on a permanent injunction until this week.
Sports Tours International operated Hawaii Pacific University's Thanksgiving Classic until last year, when a dearth of eligible teams forced the tournament to shut down. BYU-Hawaii's Paradise Jam suffered a similar fate.
"We've worked hard for four years, we felt we did the best we can do and we performed well at the trial," Frederick said. "We've already fought the fight and paid the price, now we'll see."
English update: Former Hawaii guard Carl English continues his tour of NBA facilities as he tries to improve his stock in Thursday's draft.
After participating in the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago earlier this month, English has worked out for Indiana, Minnesota, Orlando and Toronto.
He was scheduled to work out for Los Angeles Lakers officials yesterday . The Lakers have the 24th and 32nd picks in the draft.
English has competed against other guards such as Kansas' Kirk Hinrich, Marquette's Dwyane Wade and Oregon's Luke Ridnour during his work out tour.
While he may not have the name recognition of those he's competing against, English feels he held his own against them.
"Those are things I can't control," English said in a release from Slingshot Management International, the company representing him. "The only thing I can control is out-playing my competition in my team workouts."
Two underclassmen from WAC schools who declared themselves for the draft withdrew their names before last Thursday's deadline. Tulsa guard Jason Parker and San Jose State forward Antonio Lawrence decided to return to school.