Federal Judge Rules In Favor Of Williamson Over Gina Ford

Slam dunk for Williamson? Seems appropriate...

Gina Ford’s suit against Zion Williamson had begun to look ridiculous over the summer. Now a federal judge has ruled against her and in favor of Williamson because it didn’t meet the standards of North Carolina’s Uniform Athlete Agents Act.

Here’s what Judge Loretta C. Biggs specifically had to say:

“Defendants’ affirmative defenses and counterclaims that Plaintiff was not a student-athlete do not rely on material allegations of fact, rather a conclusion of law that flies in the face of their own pleadings as well as attachments to their pleadings. Although Defendants assert that their pleadings make clear that they contest Plaintiff’s status as a student-athlete at the time that the Agreement was entered, this assertion is in direct conflict with their admission that Plaintiff was actively engaging in an intercollegiate sport — namely, men’s basketball — which is one of the ways the UAAA provides that an individual can be deemed a student-athlete. The Court is not required to assume the truth of legal allegations or conclusions because they are packaged in the form of factual allegations.”

Can we translate this a bit?

Ouch!

Okay, okay, a bit more than that: “you were talking out of both sides of your mouth and no one should take this crap seriously. So nice try, Ford, but your lawyers are idiots.”

Essentially Ford argued that a) Williamson (allegedly) took improper benefits and b) that those improper benefits meant he wasn’t eligible so c) the contract should stand.

But they based that on unproven allegations about Williamson’s eligibility, allegations that really looked ridiculous when the following things happened: Zion’s license, which was intended to be evidence, was clearly not a legitimate South Carolina license. They relied on Wikipedia and Zillow to “prove” that Williamson family was renting a house in Durham from a Duke graduate, but the News & Observer proved conclusively that they were wrong about that. Then there was an affidavit that claimed a man named Slavko Duric funneled $400,000 to Williamson’s stepfather but Duric later said that he was the victim of a con job, never met anyone from Williamson’s family and lost $100 grand.

So we don’t know if this is the end of it, but it should be. Ford’s legal team has made fools of themselves and has damaged her credibility as well. It’s time to let it go.