Former Arizona State swimmer Grant House, the main plaintiff (alongside TCU women’s basketball player Sedona Prince) in the House v. NCAA class action lawsuit set to drastically change the landscape of collegiate athletes, spoke to Yahoo Sports about his thoughts on the case — his first long-form interview since the lawsuit was settled in May 2024.
House said that he’s received messages and calls from people who threatened to kill him. Some of the messages he got wrote:
You are the worst human ever.
You are ruining lives.
You are an egotist.
You deserve the worst punishment in life.
I will kill you.
“It was quite shocking and it’s been emotionally challenging to work through,” House said. “Never imagined it would escalate to that level.”
The House v. NCAA settlement allows for revenue sharing between schools and athletes, allowing direct revenue generated by university sports teams to go to their players. In addition, it will distribute $2.8 billion in backpay over ten years to NCAA athletes who mostly played from 2016 to 2021.
And while revenue sharing brings benefit to revenue-generating sports like football and men’s basketball, it will take away from funding for non-revenue sports like swimming.
One of the consequences that House v. NCAA has on non-revenue sports is the implication of roster limits. The swimming roster cap is 30 per team, which means that teams with numbers over that amount will have to make cuts. However, individual conferences have their own roster limits as well — for example, the SEC men’s swimming roster limit is as low as 22 athletes. Florida, the reigning SEC men’s swimming champions, has a roster of 41.
House said that he “never signed anything” to limit roster sizes, and that he does not support the move. He also believes he shouldn’t be viewed as the sole person responsible for the consequences of the lawsuit, nor does his former college coach, Bob Bowman.
“You do get a feeling that people are angry about it,” Bowman said of House v. NCAA. “I’m not angry about it. It’s not Grant. If it wasn’t Grant’s name on it, it would be someone else’s.”
In fact, when House was first named a plantiff for the lawsuit, Bowman had encouraged him to not put his name on it. However, House does not regret putting his name on the suit, being determined to push for further positive reform.
That being said, House said that the lead attorneys in House v. NCAA have not communicated with him enough and was surprised to learn that they requested $725 million in fees. He recently helped write a letter to asked California District Judge Claudia Wilken to give athletes more opportunities to have a say in new changes brought to the NCAA.
House doesn’t think that the current results of the settlement aren’t the ideal results that could be achieved in the future. He believes that it could also set the stage for benefits like an athletes’ union, bargaining agreements with colleges and conferences and NIL bonuses.
“This isn’t the end-all be-all,” House said. “It’s not the answer we should stick with for the rest of time. It’s a starting point and a leverage point to go forward and develop this over time.”
Despite receiving online vitriol, House also received support for his involvement in the lawsuit — specifically from two high school swimmers who recently signed with a Division I school and reached out to House to thank him. The two swimmers found out about an “NIL bonus” alongside their athletic scholarships, which House presumed was revenue share.
House uses this instance as an example to prove that House v. NCAA doesn’t only benefit football and basketball players. However, others don’t agree.
“[House v. NCAA] will only benefit a small fraction of the NCAA student-athlete population in a meaningful way,” said Samantha Barany, the executive director of the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America. “Our hope is that effective measures can be implemented to safeguard opportunities and resources for the remaining 95%, especially for those who come from similar sporting backgrounds as Grant.”
There will be an in-person hearing before judge Wilken to officially approve the settlement on April 7, 2025. Wilken will consider objects and “opt-outs,” many of which will be expected to be filed next month.
Grant, I’m truly sorry to hear about the hateful messages you’ve received. No one should have to endure that, and I admire your courage in standing up for what you believe in. This shift was a long time coming, and it’s probably more drastic because the NCAA ignored these issues for so long while taking in billions of dollars. That said, I want to make a heartfelt request: Please use your new influence to support your swim brothers. Speak out against the drastic roster cuts that will gut current teams and eliminate opportunities for young men in the future. If all schools follow the SEC’s lead and drop to 22, it will be the beginning of the end for collegiate… Read more »
Saying you’ve received death threats is this generations way of saying “forget what I did because someone said this”.
Burn down the House.
I’m no stranger to House slander, but death threats are pretty messed up.
I think a lot of people in this country are rightfully worried about a lot of different things, and House being an individual whose name has touched many lives in the wider athletic atmosphere, many of which not necessarily positively, he’s put himself in a good position to be the emotional scapegoat of many a deeper problem, hence actual death threats.
Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing, again something I’ve used liberally here, but there’s something to be said about not feeling safe in your day to day life. And for as much criticism as a move like that rightfully garners, it’s definitely not “worst… Read more »
Well, death threats are not ever ok, but what did he expect? To be treated like a knight on a white horse in shining armor? Somewhat of an ego move with a potential payout. Selfish. No regard for the fallout. I wish nothing bad on the man, but I also wouldn’t cry if he crawled back under the rock he came out of.
Considering that swimmingoutofcontext account, yeah I can believe it
I just wanted him to run out of toilet paper when he needs it the most..
He had the option to not put his name on the suit and went against coach advice to keep it off. Don’t really feel bad for him as that was a clear “give me attention” move.