The NCAA is on the hook for $5-million after a state jury in Alabama ruled today that the association had defamed a University of Alabama booster during a 2002 investigation, the Associated Press reports.
Ray Keller, a timber dealer with whom the university has since severed ties, had accused the NCAA of libeling him during an infractions announcement in which he and other boosters were described as “rogue boosters,” “parasites,” and “pariahs.”
The NCAA never referred to Mr. Keller by name, but news reports identified him. The NCAA plans to appeal the ruling. —Brad Wolverton
