Judge drops NCAA from lawsuit filed by ex-UNC athletes

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge has granted the NCAA's motion to dismiss the governing body from a lawsuit filed by two former North Carolina athletes seeking to hold it at least partly responsible for the school's long-running academic fraud scandal.

In a ruling signed Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Loretta C. Biggs stated attorneys for former women's basketball player Rashanda McCants and ex-football player Devon Ramsay hadn't proven that the NCAA had a legal obligation to ensure the soundness of classes offered at UNC under state law.

McCants and Ramsay filed their lawsuit in January 2015 months naming the NCAA and UNC as defendants, arguing that neither had done enough to ensure athletes receive a quality education while citing the scandal on the Chapel Hill campus as a result.

Biggs issued a stay on UNC's motion to dismiss, noting that another lawsuit filed by two former ex-UNC athletes is pending while the court determines whether the school is an arm of the state with sovereign immunity.

[...] Biggs writes the NCAA's "public statements espousing aspirational goals" regarding academics for athletes weren't enough to trigger a legal duty to ensure the quality of courses.