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St. John's questions NCAA

AD says suspended Barkley 'guilty before innocent'

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Posted: Tuesday February 08, 2000 05:12 PM

NEW YORK (AP) -- Erick Barkley, St. John's leading scorer, has been suspended for an unannounced NCAA rule violation, and the school said Saturday it would protest the decision.

"While the university makes this declaration of its own volition, it does so under strong protest," the school said in a statement before beating Boston College 59-58, a game coach Mike Jarvis nearly skipped because of the suspension. "The university is seeking Erick Barkley's immediate reinstatement at this time. The university and the NCAA have sharply different interpretations of the rules that apply to this case."

The nature of Barkley's infraction was not disclosed, and the NCAA was not immediately available for comment.

"As regards specific issues pertaining to our student-athletes, in the interest of maintaining our student-athletes' rights to privacy, we maintain our long-standing policy of not discussing such matters," the school said.

Local Look On the same day Erick Barkley was suspended by the school, the New York Daily News reported an NCAA investigator had been on campus probing the men's basketball program for possible NCAA rules violations. Attributing "sources close to the program," the paper reported the focus of the inquiry is improper relationships between three St. John's players and possible agent representatives. The NCAA investigator also alleged improper use of a sports-utility vehicle that one of the St. John's players has been driving, the sources said. The men's basketball program at St. John's has never been on NCAA probation.

Barkley was in Alumni Hall for the game, but did not sit on the team bench. He also attended a postgame news conference with Jarvis, director of athletics Ed Manetta Jr. and moderator of athletics, the Rev. James Maher, but was not permitted to answer questions.

Jarvis, however, was very upset.

"I was not going to coach today, but I felt the best way to support my team was to be here and I would have been giving in," he said. "He's done nothing wrong. I'm absolutely positive. The unfortunate thing about the whole incident is that a whole lot of people will think he's done something wrong. Positively, he has not."

Manetta said he hoped a hearing could be held in time to allow Barkley to play at Providence on Tuesday night.

"It's their interpretation against our interpretation," he said. "They are accusing him of being guilty. We have to prove he's innocent, but at this time we've had to suspend him.

"I am sending them options how this can be resolved quickly. Hopefully, it will be done by Monday. I'm also sending them our interpretation of the regulations.

"My feeling is that there is no reason why he shouldn't be playing or why he was even prevented from playing today."

This season, Barkley, a sophomore guard who is considered an NBA prospect, is averaging 16.9 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 17 games. Last season, he averaged 13.5 points, 4.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 37 games.

 

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