BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive says college athletics are “going through a historic evolution.”

Slive released a statement Monday after a judge’s ruling that players in FBS football and Division I men’s basketball are entitled to at least $5,000 a year for rights to their names, images and likenesses. He says the judge on Friday appropriately recognized “the importance of integrating academics and athletics in this decision.”

The NCAA says it will appeal U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken’s ruling against the NCAA’s argument that its model of amateurism is the only way to operate college sports.

Slive says “the ultimate consequences” won’t be known until legal questions are resolved. He says the judge’s decision and recent changes in NCAA governances represent “a historic evolution of the landscape of college sports.”

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