By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Maurice Clarett, Mike Williams and seven other underclassmen face another hurdle before the NFL draft.

Three federal judges in New York on Tuesday said they would hear the NFL's appeal on April 19 or April 20 that seeks to bar the underclassmen from the league's draft on April 24-25.

The NFL went to court seeking a stay of a trial judge's decision to declare Clarett eligible. NFL attorneys were given the option of pursuing a stay or scheduling an appeal hearing before the draft.

"There's a very substantial chance he will not be in the draft," NFL general counsel Jeff Pash said.

Clarett, a running back who played one year at Ohio State, won a court challenge earlier this year that overturned the NFL's draft eligibility rule requiring a participant to be three years removed from the graduation of his high school class.

Alan Milstein, Clarett's attorney, said nothing unexpected happened Tuesday and that the court was "doing what it needs to do to work hard and get Maurice in the draft."

Clarett and Williams, a sophomore wide receiver from Southern Cal, remain eligible for the draft pending the appeal in the Federal Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Both players have on-campus workouts scheduled next week.

If the court rules in favor of the NFL in April, but another court were to dissolve the ruling at a later date, the league promised to hold a supplemental draft within 10 days of the ruling for the players.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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