NCAA asks Supreme Court to hear O’Bannon case

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the so-called O’Bannon case that successfully challenged the association’s use of names, images and likenesses of college athletes without compensation.

The plaintiffs in the case, which was originally filed by former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon, petitioned the Supreme Court in March to hear the case. The NCAA also filed an opposition Friday to the plaintiff’s filing.

In 2014, a U.S. district judge decided NCAA’s amateurism rules violated antitrust law. Judge Claudia Wilken ruled schools could – but were not required to – pay football and men’s basketball players up to $5,000 per year for use of their names, images and likenesses. The money would go into a trust and be available to the athletes after leaving college.