Utah Valley University is being sued for $1 million and could find itself boxed out of the NCAA basketball tournament next month as the Orem school breaks up with its current conference.
The Western Athletic Conference filed a lawsuit in Tarrant County, Texas, on Monday, alleging UVU has refused to pay a $1 million exit fee to the WAC after announcing its plan move to the Big West Conference later this year, according to court documents first reported by ESPN.
That has “rendered UVU a member institution not in good standing,” according to the lawsuit. As a result, “UVU is not permitted to participate in conference championship events, NCAA championship events, and/or appear on Conference-sponsored television, radio, or other media packages.”
That would block Utah Valley from participating in the WAC conference tournaments, particularly the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Las Vegas set to take place from March 11-14. The Wolverines men’s basketball team is currently in a three-way tie for the top spot in its conference race with a 16-6 overall record and a 6-3 record in WAC play.
If UVU’s men’s basketball team were to be barred from the WAC tournament, its chance of making the NCAA Tournament would be all but over. The Wolverines lost to Grand Canyon University in the WAC championship game last season, falling one win short of a taste of March Madness.
Utah Valley University President Astrid S. Tuminez — who announced that she would be stepping down from her role on May 1 of this year — wrote to the WAC on Jan. 22 that the university “will not pay the exit fee,” the court documents allege. Western Athletic Conference commissioner Rebekah Ray then responded to UVU on Jan. 30, reminding it of the “requirements of the bylaws pertaining to exiting member institutions.”
The Western Athletic Conference states in the lawsuit that the conference “has been consistent, upfront, and open with UVU and has attempted to avoid this dispute. Unfortunately, UVU preferred to elevate this dispute and refused to comply with contractual obligations as expressly agreed to and as set forth in the bylaws.”