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Mediation Continues between NCAA and 2013 Louisville Basketball Players

Tuesday, September, 24, 2019


Mediation efforts are ongoing between a group of former Louisville men’s basketball players and the NCAA. The mediation is an attempt to settle the lawsuit filed by the players after they won the national championship game that year.

 

A court filing earlier this year called the negotiations thus far “unsuccessful,” but the mediation continued. According to Bernie Mazaheri, an attorney for the former layers, mediation had appeared to reach an impasse because of anger in January, but talks eventually resumed. He said “calmer heads prevailed.”

 

There is a hearing scheduled for November 15th and talks are expected to continue until that point unless a settlement is reached before then. If the case is still ongoing by that point, Judge Olu Stevens will give them a deadline to respond to the pending motion and then move forward to trial.

 

The lawsuit, filed by Luke Hancock and four other members of the 2013 team, accuses the NCAA of portraying the members of the team in a false light. They are seeking to restore the team’s championship and the associated accolades that were lost after an escort scandal. The NCAA vacated the championship and the 123 wins after the scandal erupted. The men claim they were not affiliated with the scandal and should not be painted with the broad brush the NCAA used for the entire team.

 

This mediation, like others, is confidential. Parties are permitted to use information they gather during mediation to conduct research and interviews if they must move forward with a trial. Those interviews would be part of the discovery process.