NCAA president Mark Emmert to testify in antitrust trial
NCAA president Mark Emmert says he has never been a witness on the stand. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
NCAA president Mark Emmert says he will testify in the Ed O'Bannon class-action antitrust trial in Oakland, California on Thursday, according to Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com.
Emmert confirmed his court appearance at a reception at the Collegiate Commissioners Association's meeting in Laguna Niguel, California.
The trial, now in its second week, is expected to conclude next week. The plaintiffs, including O'Bannon, a former UCLA basketball star, are suing the NCAA, saying that organization doesn't pay players for the use of their names, likenesses and images.
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany and Southeastern Conference executive associate commissioner Greg Sankey are also on the witness list but it is not known if they will take the stand.
RELATED: SI.COM's Ed O'Bannon v. NCAA case coverage
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Emmert was planning to leave early Tuesday to prepare for his appearance at the trial in Oakland, Calif. Emmert's time on the stand could be one of the seminal moments in NCAA history. The association's CEO would be defending the collegiate model in one of the NCAA's biggest legal challenges in history.
