Las Vegas– utah valley And the Western Athletic Conference has settled its $1 million dispute that threatened to oust the Wolverines from the league’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
Utah Valley plans to leave the WAC for the Big West Conference at the end of this school year. The WAC said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that Utah Valley has not complied with a judge’s order directing the school to place $1 million in escrow with the court, an amount equal to its exit fee for leaving the conference.
WAC officials said at the time that they were planning on the possibility that Utah Valley would not play in any tournaments if the fee was not paid because “it would be a member that would not be in good standing.” This would have left the men’s tournament without its top seed.
But the league issued another statement Tuesday night saying Utah Valley will play in both tournaments.
“The Western Athletic Conference has been assured by the Utah Court that the $1 million payment from Utah Valley University is in the process as directed by the Court and will be completed the morning before tip-off of the first game tomorrow,” the WAC said. “Relying on this assurance, the WAC Board of Directors will allow Utah Valley to compete in the WAC Basketball Tournament.”
Utah Valley is the No. 4 seed in the women’s tournament. Both events begin on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
WAC officials were planning to release a new bracket without Utah Valley if the school had not complied with the court’s instructions.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
