NCAA changing prize money rules in $2.02M settlement for lawsuit led by Brantmeier and Joint

A significant change benefiting the college tennis pathway is in motion, with major kudos going to Reese Brantmeier and Maya Joint for helping make it happen.

Athletes of all sports will be permitted to accept prize money without restrictions ahead of college enrollment, striking down restrictions that previously limited tennis players from retaining more than $10,000. The shift comes after the NCAA agreed to a proposed $2.02 million federal class-action lawsuit led by co-plaintiffs Brantmeier and Joint, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

Brantmeier, the reigning NCAA champion at the University of North Carolina, brought the initial anti-trust claim forward in 2024 after forfeiting the bulk of the $48,913 earned at the 2021 US Open and missing the 2022 fall season when the NCAA disputed some of the expenses she submitted from that tournament.

At the 2024 US Open, Joint was unable to keep most of the $147,000 earned from her second-round showing ahead of entering the University of Texas. The Aussie, who followed protocols, would later turn professional that December.

“The proposed settlement is an extraordinary outcome for the Classes and the injunctive relief obtained will positively impact future generations of student-athletes,” the plaintiffs declared in a brief.

The two sides in this case had come to an agreement in February, requesting 60 days to finalize the terms. The majority of the settlement covers attorneys’ fees and other administrative costs, with Brantmeier and Joint each receiving $10,000. But perhaps the most impactful: the NCAA is prohibited from ever returning to its previous pre-college prize money rules.