Ten players from the 1983 North Carolina State men’s basketball team that won the national championship have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company for unauthorized use of their names, images and likenesses.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and “reasonable compensation” for earnings tied to the NCAA’s use of the players and their names in videos and images in promoting college basketball and the NCAA tournament without their consent. The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA continues to generate revenue without adequately compensating athletes with NIL earnings.
NC State, coached by the legendary Jim Valvano, defeated Houston 54-52 in the 1983 national championship game.
The 10 “Cardiac Pack” players listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Thurl Bailey, Alvin Battle, Walt Densmore, Tommy DiNardo, Terry Gannon, George McClain, Cozell McQueen, Walter Proctor, Harold Thompson and Mike Warren. The players’ attorneys filed the lawsuit in Wake County (NC) Superior Court on Monday.
“For more than 40 years,” the lawsuit says, according to the Raleigh News & Observer, “the NCAA and its co-conspirators have systematically and willfully appropriated the publicity rights of the Cardiac Pack – including their names, images and likenesses – associated with that game and that play, reaping tens of millions of dollars from the Cardiac Pack’s legendary victory.”
The lawsuit argues that “student-athletes’ value to the NCAA does not end with their graduation.” according to the Associated Press. “Archival images and other products constitute an ongoing revenue stream for the NCAA long after the students whose images are used have left college.”
“The NCAA profited from our team and did the same to other teams and other athletes. It’s not like it’s a one-time thing,” Warren told the News & Observer. “Especially in our case, it’s been 40 years. I think we would really like to see some equitable treatment for everyone who has helped advance college athletics.”
Lorenzo Charles who made the winning shot in the national title game for the 1983 Wolfpack and died in a bus accident in 2011, and Dereck Whittenburg, who currently works in the NC State athletics department, are the two players not involved in the lawsuit. Charles’ dunk, which finished off a desperation shot by Whittenburg, is replayed frequently every year during the NCAA tournament.
