Bayou Blues
LSU athletics director says NCAA punishment looks unavoidable
Posted: Friday June 12, 1998 12:14 PM
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The NCAA contends that a former LSU assistant gave Earl, who has since transferred to Kansas, more than $6,000 (Elsa Hasch/Allsport) |
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) -- Some sort of punishment seems
unavoidable, athletic director Joe Dean said as LSU prepares to
answer NCAA charges that it broke rules and paid money to
basketball recruit Lester Earl to get him to play for the Tigers.
LSU originally was given until April 16 to respond to the
charges. The university asked for extra time to complete its own
investigation and was given until June 19.
"We'll get some kind of penalties, how severe I don't know,"
Dean said Thursday. "I don't think they'll take us off television.
Will they keep us out of the NCAA tournament? I don't know, but if
they do I think it would only be for one year."
The university will submit its findings next week. Dean and LSU
attorneys will follow up on August 7 at a meeting with the NCAA
infractions committee.
"We'll go over them point by point and tell them where we
disagree and if we agree what we'll do to correct what happened,"
Dean said.
The NCAA contends former LSU assistant coach Johnny Jones, now
an assistant at Memphis, gave Earl more than $6,000 and arranged
for an LSU booster to pay him another $4,000. The money was
allegedly requested by Earl in part to make truck payments.
Other allegations are that Earl and his family received free
meals, that Earl received medical treatment from LSU in violation
of NCAA rules, and that LSU coaches made more recruiting phone
calls than allowed.
If the allegations are true, they would have occurred during
coach Dale Brown's tenure at LSU. Brown retired at the end of the
1996-97 season.
Brown has admitted to one assertion -- that he asked the LSU team
doctor to examine Earl before the player agreed to attend LSU. He
denied other allegations.
Brown has also retained an investigator and said he will present
his own rebuttal to the charges. He was unavailable for comment on
Thursday.
Jones has refused comment other than to say he would respond to
the NCAA.
In January, Dr. Redfield Bryan, an LSU booster, said in a
statement that Lester Earl came to his office on several occasions
saying he and his family were in dire need of financial assistance.
Bryan said he gave Earl money on those occasions. The amount of
money was not disclosed.
"Obviously it's very serious when you have someone giving an
athlete money," Dean said. "That's a very bad situation. I'm sure
it will hurt us."
Earl, heavily recruited by both LSU and Kansas, signed with LSU
but left in January 1997 after being kicked off the team for
violating rules. He enrolled at Kansas, saying he wanted to be a
Jayhawk all along, and sat out one calendar year before becoming
eligible last month.
The investigation has had no effect on Earl's eligibility to
play and would affect his future only if it's proven that he did
not tell the truth to NCAA investigators or failed to disclose a
violation.
LSU could face severe NCAA sanctions, including the loss of
scholarships and post-season eligibility, depending on the outcome
of the investigation. Penalties are often reduced if the NCAA feels
a school has cooperated.
"We'll make a recommendation of what the penalty should be,"
Dean said. "I don't know if they'll accept it. But these are
reasonable, objective people, they're not out to get us."
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