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Thickening plot Grand jury investigating Rush's former summer coach
Posted: Sunday December 19, 1999 06:53 PM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A sports agent from Los Angeles claims he's owed $43,500 for loans made to Myron Piggie, the former summer league coach of suspended UCLA basketball player JaRon Rush. Piggie denies receiving the loans that Jerome Stanley says he made to him between August 1997 and May 1998 in return for his promoting the agent's business in the basketball community. Stanley filed suit last February in Kansas City, seeking repayment. Both men deny doing anything improper or illegal. Piggie figures in an expanding Kansas City federal grand jury investigation that has sidelined Rush and two other players -- including Rush's brother -- who played for Piggie in a summer league before they went to college. The grand jury's fraud and bribery investigation is looking into whether someone made improper payments to the players, thus endangering their college eligibility and economically harming federally-funded schools. The summer 1997 and spring 1998 time frame the loans allegedly were made was about the time some of Piggie's players were being heavily recruited by colleges. JaRon Rush is in his second season at at UCLA, while his brother Kareem is a freshman at Missouri. Both were stars at Kansas City's Pembroke Hill High School and heavily recruited by major college teams. JaRon Rush was suspended by UCLA a week ago Friday, and Missouri declared his brother ineligible last week as both schools began investigations to determine if there had been any violations of NCAA rules. West Coast news reports have said JaRon Rush has acknowledged to investigators having accepted "considerably less than $500" from Stanley, an allegation Stanley denies. NCAA regulations state that receiving anything from a sports agent makes an athlete ineligible. Kareem Rush reportedly acknowledged accepting a pair of shoes and $50 in cash on one or more occasions from Piggie before entering college. Such payments for expenses are allowed under NCAA rules, and sources told The Kansas City Star that an expedited University of Missouri investigation could clear the way for Kareem Rush to return to the team soon. Kareem Rush's situation is less serious than that of his brother because there are no reports that he was involved with a sports agent. Payments from an agent usually are not treated as criminal matters. But law enforcement officials in Kansas City are exploring whether criminal fraud and bribery charges can be applied, particularly to the people who gave the players money. Federal jurisdiction would come from the fact that the schools receive federal money. Stanley's lawsuit says Piggie used the loan money to refurbish his home and pay off debts. "I did not advance or loan to Myron Piggie any money that I intended to go to any players or any team that he had any involvement in," Stanley told the Star. David Bass, Stanley's lawyer, said that while the decision to loan money to Piggie "may not have been a good business decision, it is not improper." Piggie denied receiving any loans at all from Stanley, and has said he did not make improper payments to players. He suggested Stanley filed his lawsuit to retaliate against him for firing Stanley as an agent for Piggie's cousin, who once played in the National Basketball Association. "That's all it could be," Piggie said. "There's nothing else there." Piggie said the lawsuit had nothing to do with JaRon Rush. Two months ago a bank filed suit against Piggie and his wife, seeking payment of almost $6,000 in credit card bills and fees. "I have no money," Piggie said. "I'm a poor man." Piggie said that in January, Nike canceled an 18-month consulting contract that he said paid him at least $50,000. Nike basketball spokesman Dean Stoyer declined to confirm the figure, but said the company terminated the contract after questioning Piggie's use of equipment donated to one of his teams. Piggie said he was dropped because his teams did not appear at enough of Nike's summer tournaments in 1998.
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