Over the years, Georgia Tech alumnus Steve Zelnak has been exceedingly generous in giving to his alma mater and its athletic department. He and his wife, Judy, gave the lead $4.5 million gift on the basketball practice facility and also were behind the football team meeting room, among other donations.
His next donation might be his most unusual. As Tech’s appeal with the NCAA for penalties stemming from the men’s basketball team’s recruiting violations continues, Zelnak said he’s willing to help fund a lawsuit against the NCAA should Tech’s appeal fail.“If the NCAA were to turn us down, I’d love to see us just flat sue the NCAA,” Zelnak told the AJC.Zelnak made sure to clarify that it was his position, and not that of the athletic department. But Zelnak was critical of the NCAA for what he considered inconsistency in how the association has penalized member schools for infractions.
It echoed the perception held by fans across college athletics that the NCAA lightly penalizes the most prominent athletic programs while treating others more harshly.“If you look at their inconsistency in penalties and what they have done over time and how they do it, I don’t think they have a leg to stand on,” Zelnak said. “Personal view and, again, plenty of people would disagree with me. But, as you can tell, I am not a fan of the NCAA. I like consistency. I like people who do their jobs well. I don’t see that at the NCAA.”Zelnak, it should be noted, is not a wild-eyed booster speaking off the cuff. The past CEO and chairman of the board of Martin Marietta, Zelnak has served on the boards of the Georgia Tech Foundation and the Alexander-Tharpe Fund. Beyond gifts to the athletic department, he endowed the dean’s chair of Tech’s college of business. He said he had “minimal lawsuit activity” in his 28 years running Martin Marietta.
It was clear that he has given plenty of thought to a lawsuit that likely would send shock waves through college athletics.“The NCAA is on shaky ground, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a few schools who have been wronged, at least in their view, file suit, (and) go after it,” he said. “I think the depositions would be really interesting.” Moreover, Zelnak said there are others who would be willing to go along with him in seeding a legal fund.“We can raise seven-figure money in a heartbeat for that,” Zelnak said. “I’ve already worked on that some. And I’m not the only one. There are other guys (within the Tech community).
”Zelnak said that he has told athletic director Todd Stansbury that a legal fund would be available if he chose to pursue that path, but that Stansbury wasn’t entertaining the discussion as the appeal is proceeding.“I think there’s a lot that needs to have a light shined on it,” he said. “Again, personal viewpoint.”In the interview, Zelnak shared other thoughts and observations of the Tech athletic department unrelated to potential legal action.
Link
https://www.ajc.com/sports/college/appea...C2Zv5vwEK/