'Cardiac Pack' fights for NIL money for NCAA use of 1983 highlights

Ten members of NC State’s 1983 champion basketball team are seeking payment from the NCAA for the governing body’s continued use of highlights and rebroadcasts from the ‘Pack’s dramatic title run.

The NCAA is asking a North Carolina court to dismiss the case, citing the dismissal of a federal case brought by a former Kansas men’s basketball player who used similar arguments.

Judge Mark A. Davis, a special superior court judge for complex business cases, heard arguments on the NCAA’s motion Thursday during a lengthy hearing in the case involving antitrust and copyright laws — and the statutes of limitations on them.

The 1983 championship team, coached by Jim Valvano, capped a dramatic run through the NCAA Tournament with a buzzer-beating shot that lifted the Wiolkfpack over Houston. Valvano famously ran around the court looking for someone to hug after the game.

More than 40 years later, clips of the “Cardiac ‘Pack” still air, an indelible part of March Madness lore.

“They usurp their NIL rights, and they’re using them in perpetuity for 41 years, and that’s fundamentally against the law,” said Stacy Miller, a lawyer for the NC State players.

The lawsuit was filed in June by Thurl Bailey, Alvin Battle, Walt Densmore, Tommy DiNardo, Terry Gannon, George McClain, Cozell McQueen, Walter Proctor, Harold Thompson and Mike Warren. Several were in court Thursday.

Matthew Skanchy, a lawyer for the NCAA, argued that the players don’t have copyrights to their athletic performances under federal law. The players also signed “student-athlete statements” that ceded rights to the NCAA. Lawyers for the NC State players argued those were the result of coercion and, even if they were valid at one time, they are no longer.

Before 2021, the NCAA prohibited players from profiting from their name, image and likeness. But since 2021, the organization has allowed it and, likely beginning this fall, will allow schools to directly share revenue with athletes and even back pay to athletes from 2016 if a judge approves a $3-billion settlement.

A federal judge in New York dismissed a case brought by former Kansas men’s basketball player Mario Chalmers, who played on a national championship-winning team, and 15 other players who played before 2016. The judge cited a four-year statute of limitations for federal antitrust violations.

The statute of limitations argument came up repeatedly in court Thursday with lawyers for the NC State players arguing that the clock restarts with each violation made by the NCAA in airing highlights to promote the NCAA Tournament or rebroadcasting the game on its website with advertisements.

“The NCAA continues to exploit rights it did not obtain,” lawyer Eliot Abrams said.

The players are only seeking damages for the last four years, not back to 1983 or 1984. The players want a jury trial.

Not all members of the 1983 team have joined the lawsuit. NC State stars Dereck Whittenburg, Sidney Lowe, Ernie Myers and the estate of Lorenzo Charles were not listed among the plaintiffs. Whittenburg and Charles were the main players in the final play of the title game.

“This is an important case,” said Davis, the judge, “and I’m not going to rush through it before I make sure I get it right.”