Washington court declines to evaluate Pac-12 case

Kyle Bonagura, ESPN

• Personnel WriterDec 15, 2023, 06:16 PM ET Close Covers the Pac-12.
• Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
• Gone To Washington State University.The Washington state supreme court will

  not examine a lower court’s decision that granted control of the Pac-12 board of directors to Oregon State and Washington State, the court ruled Friday.With the judgment, a previous stay of the lower court’s decision has actually been raised, giving immediate control of the board to OSU and WSU.In a joint declaration, Oregon State president Jayathi Murthy and Washington State president Kirk Schulz admired the court’s decision.Editor’s Picks 1 Associated”We are pleased with the Washington Supreme Court’s choice today,”they said.”We eagerly anticipate continuing our work of charting a path forward for the conference that is in the very best interest of student-athletes and our broader university neighborhoods. “For months, OSU and WSU have actually made it clear that they plan to restore the Pac-12 in the coming years; nevertheless, that process could not begin in earnest till this case was settled.The ruling

  permits OSU and WSU full discretion to operate the conference as they see fit, including as it comes to income distributions. Last week, OSU and WSU voted to obstruct a midyear conference-wide income payment, a relocation they said was made to safeguard the conference against pending liabilities.It is uncertain what instant actions OSU and WSU will take now that the leaving 10 universities have apparently exhausted their legal remedies.In a Whitman County courthouse last month, an attorney dealing with behalf of Washington, Dan Levin, raised

  the possibility that the departing schools might try to liquify the conference.” It’s just the fact that the members could choose to liquify that they wanted, “Levin said.”Obviously, in all this time throughout these proceedings and previously, no member has called for such a vote. “Legal representatives for OSU and WSU disagreed vehemently with Levin’s interpretation of the law and stated they are confident such action is not lawfully possible.A statement from the departing 10 schools was not instantly available.