The Minnesota Supreme Court overturned a $1 million award against the University of Minnesota and men's basketball coach Tubby Smith on Wednesday, ruling that although they treated a prospective assistant coach unfairly, they couldn't be held financially responsible for backing out of a job offer that Smith lacked the authority to make. Jimmy Williams quit as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State University in 2007 because he believed Smith had hiring authority when he offered him an assistant coaching position shortly after Smith became head coach at Minnesota. That fell through after Minnesota's athletics director, Joel Maturi, learned that Williams was cited for multiple major NCAA rules violations while working as a Golden Gophers assistant coach from 1971 to 1986, the court noted. Williams sued, claiming he reasonably relied on Smith's statements during the negotiating process and that Smith therefore had a legal obligation to him. A Hennepin County jury and the state appeals court sided with Williams, but the high court overturned those decisions Wednesday. Read more: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...1-million-award-minnesota-gophers-tubby-smith
