So it is okay to violate their scholarship agreement, but not their rookie contract? Would it prevent them from getting a second contract? I honestly don't know.
Is there a legal obligation to play under any and all circumstances contained within the standard NCAA scholarship agreement? If, say, Zion were to state "My knee doesn't feel right and it needs rest" would he be in violation of his scholarship? Would Duke demand he play anyhow? Require independent medical testing?
I honestly don't know.
But a copy of an athletic aid agreement I found online (link below) states that an athlete can lose his/her scholarship if he/she withdraws from the sport
before the first competition of the season, but nothing about withdrawing 3/4 of the way through the season. So, unless Duke's standard agreement differs from this one, it would appear Zion would not be violating his scholarship agreement if he stepped away now.
Likewise, if this were a violation, why didn't Ohio State pursue some sort of action against Nick Bosa? Or Stanford against Christian McCaffery? Just because of the bad optics, maybe? Or because there's no actual violation?
I'm not going to read the CBA now, but there's some obvious answers why he wouldn't get a second contract.
1) Having not fulfilled the terms of his first contract, thereby nullifying it, any subsequent contract remains his "first" contract? In fact, the team that drafts him would likely retain his rights under this scenario.
2) What team is going to give a substantial second contract to a guy who hasn't played competitive ball at the top level in more than four years? He'd get a deal, but nobody is giving a max contract. The player would make substantially more money playing out his rookie contract and then receiving the maximum possible on his second deal.
Do you guys know how silly it sounds to legitimately suggest Zion - or any other player - would sit out four years?
https://www.athleticscholarships.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Example-Athletic-Aid-Agreement.pdfThe sponsorship thing I get, though I think they may let those infractions slide once the rookie contract is up and the player starts playing again.
And in the meantime the player loses four years of endorsement money - and a boatload of positive public perception - that can never be recovered.