Season Over for UNLV Players : Ruling: Judge refuses to provide injunction, seemingly closing (again) the 1977 case against Tarkanian.

A state district judge in Las Vegas Wednesday refused to provide Nevada Las Vegas basketball players with an injunction that would have allowed them to participate in the NCAA tournament next week.

After a two-hour hearing, District Judge Donald Mosley said he could not find legal grounds on which to grant the injunction, which would have overturned agreements struck in 1990 between UNLV and the NCAA, and UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian and the NCAA banning the Rebels from this year’s tournament.

“While my decision no doubt will be unpopular, and I don’t think many people will understand it, I’m going to deny the motion,” Mosley said in announcing his decision in front of a packed courtroom.

The UNLV players filed suit last Friday to obtain an at-large berth in the 64-team tournament. At the time, Mosley granted a temporary restraining order on behalf of the players allowing them to practice until a hearing could be held.

The Rebels, who finished the season with a 26-2 record, are barred from participating in the NCAA tournament as the final penalty from the 1977 infractions case that led Tarkanian to take legal action when the NCAA sought his suspension.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions had originally ruled that UNLV, which won the 1990 national championship, would be ineligible to compete in postseason play in 1991. But the committee later struck deals with both the university and Tarkanian putting off the penalty until 1992.

Mosley’s ruling thus appears to be the final act in a legal drama that has been played out over three decades.

“I have two feelings,” UNLV legal counsel Brad Booke said after the ruling. “One is sadness for a bunch of kids who have to suffer a penalty imposed against a coach. On the other hand, this hopefully brings to a close the 1977 infractions case. I can’t overstate the importance of that.”

In their suit, which named the NCAA, UNLV and Tarkanian as defendants, the players argued that the agreements stemmed from an unfair process. They also claimed that delaying the postseason sanction was a maneuver designed to enrich the NCAA, UNLV and Tarkanian.

Last year’s UNLV team, undefeated during the regular season, lost to Duke in the NCAA tournament semifinals.

Both the NCAA and UNLV argued that the players had no legally protected right to participate in postseason competition, a principle that has been upheld in federal court.

“The law on this particular point was clear and virtually unanimous,” Booke said. “The judge would have had to overwhelmingly ignore the weight of the law to rule in the players’ favor.”

In explaining his decision, Mosley first criticized the NCAA’s enforcement procedure. However, he went on to say he does not believe that the UNLV players have a legal cause of action.

“My first instinct was to rush in here and right a wrong,” he said. “But there must be a reason for doing what I’m doing.”

Given the emotional nature of the matter, Mosley made a “courageous” ruling, Booke said.

“This is a politically unpopular decision in a state where judges are elected by popular vote,” he said. “I’m sure he’ll hear about this in the future.”