Attorneys for would-be assistant University of Minnesota men's basketball coach Jimmy Williams filed documents this week urging the state's high court not to review a $1 million jury award to Williams for a rescinded job offer.

The response in opposition to petition for review came one month after the University of Minnesota appealed the award to the Minnesota Supreme Court. A Hennepin County jury concluded in May 2010 that head coach Tubby Smith misrepresented the extent of his authority in 2007 by offering an assistant coaching spot to Williams, leading him to resign from that same position at Oklahoma State. Gophers Athletic Director Joel Maturi later nixed the offer to Williams, leaving him unemployed.

The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether it will review the case.

The U appealed the award to the state Appeals Court, which upheld the verdict. The U maintains a $1 million insurance policy covering claims of this nature. Williams has not been paid during the appeals process.

In the five-page petition, Williams' attorney, Donald Chance Mark Jr., wrote that the jury's verdict and the Appeals Court's decision upholding it are sufficient, and claimed that the U is attempting to duck responsibility by asking that "this court excuse it from conducting itself in a manner expected of every other citizen of this state simply because it is the University of Minnesota."

ABBY SIMONS