Reggie Bush, Former Trojans Star, Files Lawsuit Against USC and NCAA for Unpaid NIL Compensation | lawsuit

LOS ANGELES – In late July, his Heisman Trophy lastly rested on a desk inside USC’s John McKay Center, Reggie Bush’s alma mater proudly displaying a hunk of bronze that had turn out to be the image of one of many biggest authorized battles in fashionable NCAA historical past.

It was an indication, then, that the phrases Reggie Bush and University of Southern California – as printed on his statue – have been again intertwined perpetually, the previous USC luminary totally accepted and heralded finally by a brand new administration inside the college’s partitions. And the 39-year-old, rapidly, appeared to turn out to be a cherished a part of the fold once more since Lincoln Riley and athletic director Jen Cohen endorsed the return of his Heisman in April, his No. 5 jersey finally displayed on the peristyle on the Coliseum and Bush popping up on the sidelines in Vegas for USC’s season opener towards LSU.

There have been public murmurings, too, that Bush could lead on USC out of the tunnel in a sport this fall, a need he’s made clear ever since saying a defamation go well with towards the NCAA in 2023.

That’s an unlikely end result, now.

On Monday morning, Bush introduced a lawsuit towards USC, the Pac-12 and NCAA over perceived “exploitation of Reggie Bush’s name, image and likeness during his tenure as a USC football player,” in accordance with a launch from Bush’s staff and authorized illustration McCathern Law. The go well with factors to unrecouped NIL advantages involving income streams – corresponding to TV contracts, merchandise gross sales, and media rights – “linked” to Bush’s prominence in his time at USC, and alleges that the varsity, convention and NCAA took monetary advantages from Bush’s repute with out financial acknowledgement.

Bush’s staff declined a request for remark from Bush.

“We appreciate that the new administration at USC is trying to pick up the pieces of the former administrations’ unjust and improper handling of Reggie Bush,” legal professional Levi McCathern mentioned in an announcement. “However, the delay in fixing this speaks volumes.”

They had, certainly, fairly publicly tried to select up the items, persevering with to interrupt a prolonged disassociation that was formally snapped below the Mike Bohn administration in 2020 after the authorized battle with the NCAA over his Heisman Trophy. A supply accustomed to the state of affairs confirmed with the Southern California News Group that USC and Bush’s staff had been engaged in talks attempting to set a date this fall for Bush to steer USC’s staff out of the tunnel on the Coliseum, an honor historically reserved for outstanding faculty alumni.

But through the previous yr, Bush has continued to press the difficulty on legally reclaiming his repute, after the NCAA dominated in 2010 Bush had accepted improper advantages in his time at USC and stripped him of his Heisman. A subsequent authorized joust round former USC coach Todd McNair, although, poked large holes into the credibility of the NCAA’s unique investigation. That set into movement a timeline that led to Bush’s eventual announcement of that defamation go well with towards the NCAA in August 2023 over language round a “pay-for-play” assertion centered round Bush, and the Heisman Trust finally bent the knee this spring in a triumphant second for Bush.

“I’ve never cheated,” Bush mentioned in an April presser, after receiving his Heisman. “And there is no proof of that.”

His lawsuit, now, seems to piggyback in some respect on the landmark settlement this summer season from a number of antitrust circumstances towards the NCAA, saying $2.8 billion in backpay damages would be paid out to NCAA athletes over 10 years for uncompensated utilization of their identify, picture and likeness.