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Former Arizona college basketball players sue NCAA

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Sixteen former college basketball players are suing the NCAA and several sports conferences for unauthorized use of their name, image and likeness in March Madness highlights. Four of the plaintiffs played in Arizona.

The lawsuit includes three members of the University of Arizona’s 1997 national championship team – Jason Terry, A.J. Bramlett and Eugene Edgerson – as well as former Arizona State University player James Cunningham.

They claim the NCAA and other defendants violated antitrust laws, exploiting their publicity rights to make millions of dollars.

Jon Kappes is a professor at ASU’s law school.

“So my best guess is that there's a reasonably good chance that the college athletes, or former college athletes in this case, may have some success, whether that's before the court or in settlement conversations or through other means," he said.

The lawsuit says the NCAA “unreasonably and illegally utilized its monopoly power” to not pay the players.

Ignacio Ventura is a reporter for KJZZ. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and a minor in news media and society.