Ed O'Bannon and Sam Keller's lawsuit against the NCAA is going to trial in June, but not before a court ordered settlement conference, leading some SEC school leaders to weigh in on the case.
Speaking with AL.com, athletic directors from schools in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) had mixed opinions on whether or not the NCAA should try to settle. The two other defendants in the lawsuit, EA Sports and Collegiate Licensing Company, have already done so.
O'Bannon, a former basketball star at UCLA noticed himself in a video game, but was not asked permission or given compensation. Years later, his lawsuit is finally set to go to trial and could ultimately spell major change for the way the NCAA compensates student-athletes for using their name, image and likeness for profit.
Currently, it is strictly forbidden for college athletes to receive any kind of compensation whatsoever. The rules are so strict and plentiful that many athletes sometimes cannot keep straight what is a violation and what is not.
For example, when Dez Bryant played at Oklahoma State, he accepted a dinner invite from Deion Sanders at the former player's home. Even though he was not violating any rule, Bryant thought he would be subject to penalties when the NCAA questioned him about it. He lied to an investigator about the dinner and was punished for lying, even though he did not commit an infraction in the first place.
The SEC is one of the five "power conferences" and, along with the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC, make more money than all other D1 conferences. The NCAA is currently working out a way to give these schools' ADs and presidents more autonomy on important decisions that affect revenue and other matters.
All statements below were made in interviews with AL.com.
Vanderbilt AD David Williams:
"I'm a lawyer and and there are times when you gamble and times you try to reach a settlement," said Williams, who also teaches sports law. "I don't know all of the details that the NCAA lawyers know and certainly they know more than I know. But it seems to me this is one where you try to come to a solution and go on about our business because I do think it is a big gamble. The consequences could be very, very large."
LSU AD Joe Alleva:
"I think the NCAA feels like they have a very good case, but who knows when you get in front of a court and judge?" Alleva said. "If star players could start selling their names themselves and making money off it - selling autographs, selling T-shirts - it could change the landscape significantly for those athletes. It would be market place driven, obviously. I don't know what the answer is going to be."
SEC Commissioner Mike Silve:
"How we relate to student-athletes in the 21st Century needs to be different than how we related to student-athletes in 1980," said Slive, who provided an affidavit for the O'Bannon case. "It's a different time, remembering at all times they're students and there's an academic side to the institution, but also recognizing that they make enormous sacrifices and we want the ability to utilize our resources in their best interests. This is not to make them employees and not to pay them to be employees, but rather to provide them with benefits."
Auburn AD Jay Jacobs on providing athletes with a stipend to cover expenses outside tuition, room and board, and books:
"In general terms, I would be in favor of that," Jacobs said. "I just don't know how you would do it because an offensive lineman is probably never going to get a dime for his (name, image or likeness), but a Heisman Trophy winner is going to get a lot more. How do you balance all that on a team unless everyone gets the same amount? Let's give these student-athletes what they deserve first - cost of attendance and full scholarship - and then debate some of the other things."
Florida AD Jeremy Foley, who also favors the stipend idea, on the significance of the O'Bannon case:
"To spend a lot of time on what-ifs is not really my style," Foley said. "There's a lot of people who what they do is defend lawsuits and put together whatever arguments they have to put together. I get it's a really significant issue, but it's just a guessing game where it ends. I'm sure there will be appeals."