Emmert: Star attraction in court

— -- OAKLAND, Calif. -- NCAA president Mark Emmert will be the star attraction Thursday at the Ed O'Bannon v. NCAA antitrust trial that is entering its ninth day in federal court.

But Emmert will not likely end up the trial's star witness. No, that honor will go to other lesser-known experts whose testimony will have a much larger impact on whether collegiate players will end up being paid for the commercial uses of their names, images and likenesses.

Emmert's testimony is sure to be dramatic given the lawsuit seeks nothing less than the transformation of his organization. It will be the latest in a series of dramatic developments and crises that have marked his NCAA tenure.

His trials and tribulations began only eight months after he took office in November 2011, when he imposed severe and unprecedented sanctions against Penn State University in the Jerry Sandusky child-sex abuse scandal. Emmert's actions on Penn State remain entangled in litigation, and he has faced a storm of other lawsuits, legislation in the U.S. Congress seeking benefits and pay for players, and the surprising and thus far successful attempt by Northwestern football players to form a union.

In the face of this onslaught, Emmert has led several efforts to modify the rules governing college athletes, but none of them had been enacted by the time the O'Bannon trial began last week.

Emmert has maintained a relatively low profile since the Penn State sanctions issue blew up. He's not often been alone and in position to face tough questions, but he will be on Thursday. He will be the 14th witness in the trial and the fifth called by the NCAA. He will start his day in court with questions from Glenn Pomerantz, the leader of the NCAA legal team.

As the leader of the organization that is under fire in the trial, Emmert is an important figure. But his testimony will not be critical to Wilken's ultimate decision.

Roger Noll, a retired Stanford economist, established a solid base for the players on all of the requirements of an antitrust case in 2½ days of testimony last week. Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports, established for the NCAA the serious doubt about players' rights to television revenue. And Daniel Rubinfeld, a professor of law and economics who has published a textbook on the issues in the case, will offer testimony for the NCAA next week that responds to Noll.

Emmert's appearance will fill the courtroom with media and onlookers, but when Wilken makes her decision, she will look to the testimony of Noll, Pilson and Rubinfeld.