The College v. the Coach
![handle is hein.journals/shjsl3 and id is 227 raw text is: THE COLLEGE V. THE COACH
Michael S. Selvaggi*
I. INTRODUCTION
On April 2, 1990, the Board of Governors for North Carolina
State granted the school permission to file suit against its basketball
coach, Jim Valvano.1 A private attorney retained by North Carolina
State was convinced that the school could successfully sue Valvano
for failing to ensure the academic progress of his student-athletes, a
responsibility clearly detailed in Valvano's contract with the school.2
In response to the threatened legal action, Valvano's attorney re-
sponded, I think it's without precedent for a university to sue its
coach.''3
Essentially the lawyer was correct, there has never been an ac-
tion brought by a university4 against a coach for breach of contract.'
Yet, the absence of legal precedence does not marshall a suit of this
nature from the judicial process.
* B.S. 1987, St. Joseph's University; J.D. 1990, Seton Hall University School of Law. Mr.
Selvaggi is an associate at Courter, Kobert, Laufer, 'Purcell & Cohen, Hackettstown, New
Jersey.
1. See N.C. St. given OK to sue Valvano, THE STAR-LEDGER, Apr. 3, 1990, at 63 [hereinaf-
ter N.C. St. OK to sue Valvano]. The author's motive in writing this article was not to con-
demn or criticize Jim Valvano or the athletic program he supervised at North Carolina State.
Id. In fact, the author deeply respected Jim Valvano. Id. An excellent and touching insight into
this man's life was recently authored by Gary Smith in Sports Illustrated. See Gary Smith, As
Time Runs Out, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Jan. 11, 1993, at 10.
2. The clause in the contract explicitly provided that one of Valvano's obligations was to
encourage academic progress, in conjunction with the faculty and university, of student-ath-
letes towards graduation. See N.C. St. OK to sue Valvano, supra note 1, at 63. A six month
investigation of the North Carolina State (hereinafter N.C. State) basketball program uncov-
ered repeated abuses of the school's academic standards in an effort to maintain the eligibility
of certain players. Id.
3. See N.C. St. OK to sue Valvano, supra note 1, at 63. The lawyer confidently remarked
that Valvano could defend himself against any such suit, because there was no standard that
the university could cite to in order for it to prevail at trial. Id.
4. For purposes of this article, the terms university, school, college, and academic
institution shall be employed synonymously.
5. One week after the Board of Governors announced its decision, Valvano resigned as
head basketball coach in exchange for a reported $238,000 to be paid by N.C. State. See N.C.
State begins search for coach, THE STAR-LEDGER, Apr. 9, 1990, at 45.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/shjsl3&div=11&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The College v. the Coach
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