Surprise: Memphis hearing ends at 12:15 pm.

The Memphis hearing before the NCAA Committee on Infractions just ended at 12:15 p.m.

That’s much earlier than expected. What does it mean?

Indications were the hearing would extend deep into the afternoon. The NCAA had blocked off the entire day for the Memphis case. The hearing lasted three hours and 50 minutes counting two breaks.

After the hearing, Sheri Lipman, the Memphis legal counsel in attendance, handed out a statement from school president Shirley Raines that struck an optimistic tone.

“. . . We believe we were able to fully answer the Committee’s questions and present the actions that we have already taken based up our internal investigation,” Raines said. “. . . We are hopeful that we will receive a favorable decision.”

Memphis Athletic Director R.C. Johnson, normally a gregarious people person, left the hotel site of the hearing without much comment. When first approached for a comment, he said, “Can’t. Sorry.”

A moment later, as he stepped onto an escalator that would take him to the hotel lobby, Johnson again turned down a request for comment. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t.”

A few reporters followed him to the street outside the hotel, where he again declined comment as he entered a black Ford Excursion for presumably a trip to the airport and a flight home.

NCAA spokesperson Stacey Osburn, who did not sit in the hearing room, noted that it is not unprecedented for a hearing to end so much quicker than expected. But she could not say if the

A judgment from the NCAA’s judicial body, its Committee on Infractions, generally comes within six to eight weeks of a hearing. A decision could come sooner, Osburn said.