NCAA seeks to rule on Williams quickly, preserve power

According to an e-mail sent Wednesday from NCAA investigator Deana Garner to Jackson, the NCAA wants "to complete our inquiry" into Williams. And the NCAA wants to complete that inquiry before Thursday's scheduled hearing in Austin.

"I would like to interview Mr. and Mrs. Gladney (on Thursday) at 8 a.m. or earlier," Garner wrote to Jackson, stressing that the interview be held "prior to the hearing."

While the NCAA won't comment on active cases, and Jackson said he has no idea how the NCAA plans "to complete (its) inquiry" now after a 30-month investigation, the NCAA clearly wants to rule on Williams before the due process hearing. The most likely scenario would be for the NCAA to declare him eligible for Texas' game Saturday at Seton Hall and announce his penalty as having already been served.

This potentially explosive case could fizzle Thursday morning if the NCAA restores Williams' eligibility -- with or without a final interview with his parents -- and Texas officials cite that development as a reason not to rule on his due process. Jackson said that scenario would occur over objections from Williams and his parents.

"We want the hearing," said Jackson, who has taken on the NCAA in similar situations before (representing Mario Austin and Marvin Stone, to name two) and knows the precedent they could set on behalf of future players.

NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson told SportsLine.com the NCAA is a voluntary organization that doesn't force any school to be a member, but it does ask member schools to abide by its rules.

"It's always been our position that competing in intercollegiate athletics is a privilege, not a right," Christianson said. "When a court steps in (as it did with swimmer Joscelin Yeo), it moves from a privilege to a right, and that's not something we're comfortable with."