You're half right
LSU admits violations, denies coach paid Earl
Posted: Tuesday June 23, 1998 10:22 PM
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) -- LSU doesn't question that a couple of boosters gave Lester Earl money and meals. The school's investigation even found truth in the charges that arrangements were made for Earl to get medical treatment and to help Earl's mother and sister find jobs.
What they don't agree with is that assistant coach Johnny Jones ever handed out money to the highly sought recruit.
"There is absolutely no evidence, other than the testimony of Lester Earl, that Johnny Jones ever provided cash to him," said former chancellor James Wharton, who headed up the investigation. "Supposedly there were 70 occasions when money was exchanged between the coach and Lester Earl. That being the case, someone close to Lester Earl should have known what took place. We could not find anyone who knew about it."
The school conducted over 80 interviews with Earl's family, friends and teammates and found none who supported the contention that Jones gave him at least $6,600 before and after he enrolled at LSU, Wharton said.
Both Jones, now an assistant coach at Memphis, and former coach Dale Brown have denied paying Earl or arranging for others to pay him.
Earl played at LSU in the 1996-97 season and then left the school, later enrolling at Kansas.
The infractions allegedly took place between 1993 and 1996 when Brown was head basketball coach.
Jones and Brown did not immediately return calls for comment.
Earl's testimony on the payments underwent a substantial change over the course of the investigation, Wharton said. Earl alleged Jones gave him numerous payments of $25, $35 while he was in high school and $100 when he enrolled at LSU. Earl also said Jones gave him four payments of $500 to make payments on his truck.
"In fact, there is no substantiation of the charges that he was given money by Johnny Jones," Wharton said.
LSU also disputed that Jones arranged for a booster to make payments to Earl. Dr. Redfield Bryan has admitted paying Earl on five occasions, including once when he gave him $2,000. The school contends that Jones had no knowledge of the payments.
The school admits that Brown and Jones arranged for an LSU trainer to examine and provide treatment to Earl before he enrolled at LSU. Earl, who had injured his knee during his senior year in high school, was advised by the trainer and LSU team surgeon that he had cartilage damage and would eventually need surgery. Earl traveled to New Orleans and was operated on by Dr. Michael Brunet, the team surgeon for Tulane.
Tulane officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday but Bo Bahnsen, LSU's compliance officer, said the surgery was not an NCAA violation because Earl never attended Tulane.
LSU officials agreed that Jones may have made more calls to Earl's house than allowed by the NCAA, but said that may be a technicality since many calls were not answered by Earl or were calls returned to Earl.
The school agreed that booster Gus Piazza provided free meals for Earl, his family and friends. LSU has since dissociated itself from both Piazza and Bryan. Piazza for five years and Bryan for life.
LSU's investigation also found that Brown and Jones talked to Earl's mother and sister about jobs, but said the coaches did not influence the women's hiring.
I'm relieved that the allegations are limited to a single athlete and members of his family," chancellor William Jenkins said. "I'm also extremely pleased to note that none of our current team members or staff is involved in any of the allegations and that there was no loss of institutional control in the matter."
LSU's recommended self-imposed sanctions include a reduction of scholarships by five over a three-year period, reduction by 10 of official visits to recruits and forfeiture of all games in which Earl participated. He was in 11 games and LSU lost six of them.
Although Jenkins called the sanctions "borderline harsh," athletic director Joe Dean said they would be tough for a program that is trying to rebound from five straight losing seasons.
"Scholarships to me are the most devastating thing you can do to a program," Dean said. "Especially basketball where you only have 13 to begin with. Reducing recruiting visits hurts your chance to recruit players. I think this would be very harsh."
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