Sometime during the workday on Monday, Nov. 7, 2005, the phone rang in the midtown Manhattan office of a first-year associate named Greg at Thompson Hine, a law firm headquartered in Cleveland.

Greg picked up the phone, identified himself and waited for a response.

On the other end of the line? Mike Slive, the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and arguably the most powerful man in collegiate sports.

“I was completely shocked,” Greg said.