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NCAA, Conferences Sued by Ex-Player - Alleges That Scholarship Value Is Illegally Capped A former West Virginia football player is suing the NCAA and five leading conferences, alleging that college sports' governing body and member schools cap the value of football players' athletic scholarships in violation of federal antitrust law. The suit, brought by ex-Mountaineers running back Shawne Alston, seeks class-action status, which would include major-college football players who played on teams in the power conferences and received a full scholarship in the last four years. The court filing, dated Wednesday, defines the power conferences as the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern. The suit alleges that the NCAA and those conferences have agreed to cap the value of a scholarship, which is "often several thousand dollars below the actual cost of attending a school." The value also is less than what a player would receive in a competitive market, the filing says. The suit seeks an injunction enjoining the NCAA and the power-conference defendants from continuing to follow the NCAA bylaw that limits financial aid to the NCAA-defined scholarship, or "grant-in-aid." It also seeks damages for the difference between the grants-in-aid awarded and the actual cost of attending school. The cost of attendance is a figure that the NCAA defines as "an amount calculated by an institutional financial-aid office, using federal regulations, that includes the total cost of tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation and other expenses related to attendance at the institution." The ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC declined to comment. Alston was unavailable, according to Steve Berman, the lead attorney on the case. Donald Remy, the NCAA's chief legal officer, said association officials "just received a copy of the complaint and are evaluating it as it relates to similar cases filed by the very same plaintiffs' counsel." The law firm on the case, Hagens Berman, is involved in six other NCAA-related lawsuits, according to its website. The scholarship case is separate from the four-year-old class-action suit against the NCAA originated by former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon. That case seeks a portion of licensing and television-rights revenue for major-college football and men's basketball players, and is scheduled for a June trial, although the judge in the case has ordered settlement talks. Public criticism of college sports has increased as the NCAA and associated conferences have negotiated billion-dollar, multiyear deals for TV rights and head football coaches are paid millions while NCAA rules limit player compensation primarily to an athletic scholarship. The cost of attendance for Alston's senior year of 2012-13 for a full-time, nonresident, off-campus student was approximately $34,561, according to the filing, which cites information from West Virginia. The filing says that scholarship money Alston received "was substantially less than the full cost of attendance," and that he took out $5,500 in federal loans to "help bridge this gap." The filing said Alston graduated from West Virginia and signed a free-agent contract with the New Orleans Saints. Alston was released in June 2013, retired from football and is in graduate school pursuing a Master's of business administration, according to the filing. NCAA member schools have tried for several years to pass legislation that would allow schools to provide each athlete with a $2,000 stipend to help plug the cost-of-attendance gap. The power-conference schools generally support a stipend, but it so far has been rejected by lower-earning schools concerned that it would burden them financially. Berman said that even if the stipends were enacted, "I think that it may be unsatisfactory to have a broad rule that applies to everyone. There should be competition between the power conferences. They compete for television rights; they compete among each other. There should be a competition for players."