Six years, 11 months and eight days after Todd McNair sued the NCAA for defamation, the former USC assistant coach and 52 other people crowded into Room 500 at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on Friday for closing arguments in the trial.
Three weeks of testimony led to the final showdown in the stuffy, wood-paneled room.
Bruce Broillet, the silver-haired McNair attorney who likes to joke about his 5-foot-2 height, faced the jury's nine women and three men. He usually speaks in a grandfatherly tone. But this time his voice had an edge.
McNair alleged the NCAA's infractions committee essentially ended his coaching career in June 2010 by finding him guilty of unethical conduct in connection with the extra benefits scandal surrounding former Trojans running back Reggie Bush.