Ducks’ legal bill tops out at $230K

EUGENE, Ore. — The final bill for the University of Oregon’s defense against an NCAA investigation into its football program is nearly $230,000, according to documents released Thursday by the school.

The university paid $228,947.69 to the Kansas law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King in the 20 months it has been on the job.

The firm specializes in helping schools navigate their way through NCAA investigations.

Monthly invoices show the university was billed $74,232.09 in the final five-month span, which included $19,956.61 in April when a UO contingent led by school president Michael Gottfredson testified before the NCAA Committee on Infractions in a hearing held in Dallas.

The April invoice included $2,879.11 in travel expenses for lead attorney Mike Glazier, who is also paid at the rate of $340 per hour.

After a summary disposition — essentially a plea bargain — submitted by the UO in October was rejected by the NCAA, Oregon was formally charged in December with seven sets of alleged major violations, three of which directly involved scouting service operator Willie Lyles’ role in the Ducks’ football recruiting from 2008 through 2010.

The NCAA announced its findings and penalties on June 26, when Oregon was levied minor sanctions on recruiting and scholarship numbers for two seasons, a ban on the use of scouting services and enhanced compliance oversight of the athletic department.