Editor’s note: The following are excerpts from an article dated July 15, 2025 on WRAL.com, the website of a North Carolina television station. A video about the story may be viewed here. Reese Brantmeier is a Whitewater High School alum who recently celebrated the grand opening of the restored tennis courts on the Washington Elementary School property which was made possible by the over $160,000 in donations that she raised.
UNC tennis player is headed to US Open again. Her legal fight to keep prize money just got a boost
A federal judge in North Carolina said Tuesday that she is likely to certify a class in the lawsuit brought by North Carolina women’s tennis star Reese Brantmeier against the NCAA.
A federal lawsuit brought by a North Carolina women’s tennis player against the NCAA over prize money is expected to receive class-action status, meaning it could have wide-ranging implications for college athletics.
Reese Brantmeier first filed a federal lawsuit in North Carolina against the NCAA in March 2024 over the organization’s restrictions on individual athletes keeping prize money won in outside competitions. Brantmeier, the 2025 ACC player of the year, earned about $50,000 from competing in the 2021 U.S. Open as a high school junior, but NCAA rules made her give up most of those winnings. She was allowed to keep $10,000 plus some expenses.
The original suit was filed on behalf of Division I athletes in all sports, but an amended complaint, filed in November, limits the class to just tennis players who compete or competed at the Division I level. Tennis players are allowed to accept up to $10,000 per calendar year in prize money from outside competition before enrolling. After enrollment, they are limited to actual and necessary expenses under current NCAA rules.
The amended complaint also includes former Texas women’s tennis player Maya Joint as a named plaintiff.
The NCAA’s long-held amateurism rules have undergone massive changes in recent years, ushering in an era of professionalization at the college level. Athletes can now directly receive payments from schools with some players earning millions. Most of the money is being directed toward football and men’s basketball players.
Brantmeier’s lawsuit challenging the prize money rules now looks like it’ll be allowed to advance. And the timing is fortuitous: The UNC senior just earned a spot in the U.S. Open tournament next month [August 24 – September 7], competing in the doubles bracket for a shot at hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money. Under current rules, she wouldn’t be able to collect winnings.
“We have always thought the prize money case was a straightforward violation of antitrust laws,” said Jason Miller, a Raleigh-based lawyer who is representing Brantmeier…….
In June, Brantmeier and teammate Alanis Hamilton earned a spot in next month’s U.S. Open.
Brantmeier earned All-America honors in singles and doubles in 2025. She went 18-2 in singles and earned first-team All-ACC for the third straight year. She went 24-5 in doubles and earned first-team All-ACC honors. Brantmeier led UNC to the ACC title in 2024, earning All-America honors before an injury ended her season. She was key to the Tar Heels’ national title team in 2023.
Brantmeier is 60-9 in singles across three seasons in Chapel Hill. She sat out her first season at UNC in 2022-23 because, according to her lawsuit, the NCAA refused to certify her as an “amateur.” It challenged some of the expenses submitted by Brantmeier during her 2021 U.S. Open participation.
