'Serious allegations'
Former Minnesota employee claims she did players' work
Posted: Thursday March 11, 1999 12:35 AM
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Former Gopher Courtney James is one of the players who may have violated NCAA rules by allowing a university employee to write his papers. Elsa Hasch/Allsport |
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A former employee says she wrote papers, did take-home exams and other course work for at least 20 University of Minnesota men's basketball players, including four current players, a copyright report said Wednesday.
Four former players told the Saint Paul Pioneer Press that work was prepared for them in possible violation of the student code of conduct and NCAA regulations.
The four former players are Courtney James, Russ Archambault, Kevin Loge and Darrell Whaley. Another former player, Trevor Winter, who now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, said he was aware of the practice.
"These are serious allegations," University of Minnesota president Mark Yudof said Tuesday. "We've called in legal counsel. I want to look into this promptly. But they are just allegations at this point."
Four of the players are on this year's team: Kevin Clark, Miles Tarver, Antoine Broxsie and Jason Stanford.
Of the other players, Jermaine Stanford and Ryan Wolf denied that Jan Gangelhoff, the former office manager in the academic counseling unit, did their course work. Micah Watkins, Voshon Lenard and Hosea Crittenden refused comment. Bobby Jackson, who now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, said Gangelhoff mostly just typed his papers. That also is a possible NCAA violation.
Five other former players could not be reached for comment.
Gangelhoff estimates that from 1993 to 1998 she did more than 400 pieces of course work for players, including some starters on the 1996-97 Final Four team.
"They bring in these high-risk kids, and they know that everything they did in high school was done for them," Gangelhoff said. "It's got to stop somewhere."
Gangelhoff, 50, provided the Pioneer Press with computer files containing more than 225 examples of course work for 19 players that she says she wrote and players turned in. Gangelhoff said she kept only about half her files.
Gangelhoff also provided printed copies of five pieces of course work that she said had been turned in by students. Some of the papers had grades and instructor's comments written on them. All five pieces also appeared in Gangelhoff's computer files.
Bobby Jackson, who now plays for the Timberwolves, said the employee mostly just typed his papers, which is also is a possible NCAA violation. Elsa Hasch/Allsport |
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In the papers supplied to the Pioneer Press, Gangelhoff at times wrote first-person essays for players. Gangelhoff said she tired of writing papers by the end of her tenure and wrote primarily about topics that interested her.
Among the 1998 work Gangelhoff turned over to the Pioneer Press were papers she said players turned in on the menstrual cycle, women's gains in the workplace and eating disorders.
Elayne Donahue, the retired head of the academic counseling unit, said she was unaware of the fraud but warned athletic department administrators that the office manager was tutoring players in violation of department policy and was ignored.
Coach Clem Haskins, interviewed briefly at his hotel in Seattle where the Golden Gophers play Gonzaga in the first round on the NCAA tournament on Thursday, said the allegations were "news to me."
"I've been here 13 years, don't you know me, what I stand for as a man, as a person? I haven't changed," Haskins said. "All I'm trying to do is win a game. All I'm worrying about is beating Gonzaga. It's all I'm concentrating on. All I'll say is I will talk when the tournament is over."
McKinley Boston, the vice president of student development and athletics, questioned the credibility of Gangelhoff's allegations.
"Some of her current allegations seem to be inconsistent with statements she made in the past," Boston said. "We've had similar allegations made by others [about Gangelhoff], but this is new stuff."
Gangelhoff said she never was asked by a member of the coaching staff to do course work for players. She said she considered it compensation when she was taken on trips to two road games.
Boston said one potential NCAA violation involving Gangelhoff has been self-reported by the school.
On Oct. 26, athletic director Mark Dienhart sent Gangelhoff a letter disassociating her from the program even though she had left the school the previous summer.
An NCAA official denied comment about the letter. Boston refused to give details.
Gangelhoff said when she left the university she never intended to reveal that she did course work for players. But the letter of disassociation angered her, she says, because she never was asked to give her side of the story.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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