Big 12’s Brett Yormark: SCORE Act is the best path forward after Trump meeting at White House

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark called his meeting with President Donald Trump and other high-level officials from the NCAA, its member institutions and the CEO of the U.S. Olympic team “very constructive,” and underscored his belief that the SCORE Act is the best path forward for college athletics.

Yormark spoke Tuesday about the meeting with Trump among several topics before the start of the men's Big 12 Tournament.

Everyone at last week's meeting at the White House agreed that action must be taken soon to tackle the spiraling costs that have come from the introduction of name, image and likeness payments into college athletes. But nobody seems to agree how to do it, and what role the federal government should play in solving such problems.

The SCORE Act, which has Trump's support, is one bill designed to help. It would provide the NCAA with a limited antitrust exemption — which is opposed by many Democrats — and would preempt state laws regarding NIL. But the bill also has flaws, and critics argue it amounts to a giveaway to the NCAA and its most powerful schools.

“Coming out of that meeting,” Yormark said, “I think there's real momentum for the SCORE Act, and we need it. I think it's the best path forward. It provides us with meaningful guiding principles when you think about federal legislation. And while it's a process — it's not perfect — as I've said on a lot of different subjects, it's step by step and you have to sequence these things.

“But,” Yormark said, "I do think the SCORE Act is a great step forward.”

While the SCORE Act has widespread support, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested the bill — which has struggled to get through the lower chamber — could now have enough support to pass, getting it through Congress remains a monumental task.

Trump responded by saying he would draft an executive order himself on college sports.

“The whole educational system is going to go out of business because of this,” Trump explained, when asked why he'd devote so much time to the issue amid the war in Iran, the government shutdown and other pressing issues.

Trump lamented the bygone era of scholarship athletes, and he's among many stakeholders who believe high-revenue sports such as football and men's basketball are threatening to push out smaller sports and women's athletics. Some schools, he argued, have started to pay athletes so much money that it is driving the institutions themselves toward insolvency.

Why does Yormark believe the SCORE Act makes the most sense?

“As it relates to some of the guiding principles,” he replied, “it offers federal protection. It offers liability protection, so we can enforce the rules, which we aren't currently doing. It has great student-athlete protections. It has a strong declaration that student-athletes are not employees; I meet with a lot of student-athletes and none of them want to be employees.”

Yormark cautioned that the SCORE Act “doesn't stop anyone from suing. You can sue anyone.” But it does offer schools a certain level of protection, especially amid a growing number of lawsuits being filed by athletes across the country.

“I never look back. I'm not that type of guy. I like to look forward," Yormark said, "and the meeting (at the White House) was very constructive, and he's due to put out an executive order, or at least said he would, in a week's time. We're working very hard on the SCORE Act. That's where we are at this time.”

AP National Writer Eddie Pells in Denver and Associated Press Writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

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West Virginia players celebrate after winning their NCAA college basketball championship game against TCU at the Big 12 Conference tournament Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

President Donald Trump speaks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark addresses the media during the NCAA college Big 12 women's basketball media day, Oct. 22, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week even though he was not in the building when the victim was killed.

Ivey reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole, marking just the second time the Republican governor has granted clemency of a death row inmate since taking office in 2017.

Burton was sentenced to death for the 1991 shooting death of a customer, Doug Battle, during a store robbery. However, another man, Derrick DeBruce, shot Battle after Burton had left the building. DeBruce's death sentence was later reduced on appeal to life in prison.

Ivey, who has presided over 25 executions, said she firmly believes in the death penalty as "just punishment for society’s most heinous offenders," but said it also must be administered fairly and proportionately.

“I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances. I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not,” Ivey said in a statement.

Burton was scheduled to be executed Thursday night by nitrogen gas.

Battle was shot in the back during an Aug. 16, 1991, robbery of an AutoZone auto parts store in Talladega. Court testimony indicated that DeBruce shot Battle after Burton and other robbers had left the store. Battle had entered the store as the robbery was winding down and exchanged words with DeBruce.

Burton’s supporters and family members had urged Ivey to consider clemency for the inmate, who is sometimes confined to a wheelchair. Multiple jurors from Burton’s 1992 trial were among those urging his life be spared. Battle’s daughter sent a letter to Ivey urging clemency, asking “how does it legally make sense” to execute Burton.

Members of Burton's legal team cheered when they received the news Tuesday.

“I’m just so happy, so happy. It’s just tears of joy,” Burton’s daughter, Lois Harris, said through sobs during a telephone interview. Harris said she wants to thank Ivey for her decision.

But Attorney General Steve Marshall slammed Ivey's decision, saying “There has never been any doubt that Sonny Burton has Douglas Battle’s blood on his hands.”

Burton organized the armed robbery and “held a gun to the store manager’s head” before dividing up the proceeds, Marshall said in a statement.

Burton told The Associated Press last month that no one was supposed to be injured in the robbery and that he didn't know until later that DeBruce had shot anyone.

“I didn’t know anything about nobody getting hurt until we were on the way back. No, nobody supposed to get hurt,” Burton said in a telephone interview from Alabama’s Holman Correctional Facility

Burton said he wants to apologize to Battle’s family. “I’m so sorry. If I had the power to bring him back, I would. I’m so sorry,” Burton said.

People gather outside the Alabama Governor's Mansion in Montgomery, Ala., on Feb. 16, 2026, to urge Gov. Kay Ivey to grant clemency to Sonny Burton, who is scheduled to be executed on March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)