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Utah Valley calls WAC tournament ban 'an overt violation' of prior injunction in new court doc

Byington mugby: Alex Byington03/10/26_AlexByington

Utah Valley appears to be calling the Western Athletic Conference’s bluff in a new court document filed following the WAC’s blackmail-like threat to bar the Wolverines from the conference’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments this week in Las Vegas. Earlier Tuesday, the WAC issued a statement on social media demanding UVU fulfill a court-mandated “order” to put $1 million in escrow by 5 pm MT or the league would overhaul this week’s tournament bracket to exclude both Wolverines basketball teams.

According to a screenshot of a court document filed Tuesday, via @foxonabox_, UVU’s legal team suggested the WAC’s threat to ban the school’s teams from this week’s conference tournaments “would be an overt violation” of a preliminary injunction granted Friday by an Orem (Utah) judge that ruled the Wolverines were eligible to compete in the WAC tournaments this week. The document also claims the WAC’s “unilaterally imposed deadline” is meaningless because the court didn’t impose any such deadline in its granted injunction, and the language was clear that the $1 million deposit “remains a directive and not an order,” thus making the WAC’s proposed ban not legally binding.

That same legal document filed Tuesday explicitly informs the Utah court that UVU “expects to deposit the funds as directed” once it receives previously requested legal direction on proper protocol.

In a statement to On3, UVU said the court did not establish a deposit deadline. As a result, the program said it’s preparing for the conference tournament.

“Since the Fourth District Court granted Utah Valley University’s motion for injunctive relief, Utah Valley University (UVU) has been coordinating with the court on the proper way to deposit the requested funds,” UVU said in a statement released to On3. “No deposit deadline has been established by the Court, and UVU looks forward to competing in Las Vegas this week.”

The WAC sued Utah Valley in Texas on Feb. 2 to recoup a $1 million conference exit fee after the Wolverines opted to join the Big West Conference later this summer. Utah Valley accepted a bid to join the Big West in June 2025 and will make the formal move at the end of the current academic year.

Two weeks ago, a local Utah judge granted Utah Valley a 14-day temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on Feb. 25 that allowed Wolverines student athletes to continue participating in WAC athletic competition — including postseason tournaments — according to KSL.com. On Friday, the same Orem court granted the university’s request to extend its injunction to allow UVU’s men’s and women’s basketball teams to play in this week’s WAC tournaments in Las Vegas, per KSL.com.

The Utah Valley men’s basketball team claimed the No. 1 overall seed and was set to tip off against Utah Tech at 6 pm PT Thursday in the tournament quarterfinals after the Wolverines won a second consecutive regular-season conference championship at 24-7 overall and 14-4 in conference play. The Utah Valley women’s team is the No. 4 seed and scheduled to tip off against Tarleton State at 12 pm PT Thursday in the WAC women’s tournament quarterfinals. Both tournaments are being held inside the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.