'I don't feel anything'

Cole not remorseful for actions that did in Harricks

Georgia/ Jim Harrick Timeline Feb. 27, 2003 Ex-player Cole accuses Georgia of fixing grades, paying bills Feb. 28, 2003 UGA suspends assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr. after allegations March 1, 2003 Cole: I used Harrick Sr.'s credit card to buy 28-inch TV March 3, 2003 More trouble? Rhode Island launches investigation into Harricks March 4, 2003 NCAA, Georgia question current Bulldog players Wright, Daniels March 4, 2003 Harrick denies all of Cole's heavy allegations in TV interview March 5, 2003 Georgia fires assistant Harrick Jr. March 5, 2003 Mandel: Party could end early for Harrick, Georgia March 7, 2003 Layden: UGA, others mire college hoops in hypocrisy March 8, 2003 Arrest warrant issued for Ex-Bulldog Cole for bad check March 8, 2003 Harrick accused of tampering with grades at Rhode Island March 10, 2003 UGA suspends Harrick, bans itself from postseason play March 10, 2003 Mandel: Harrick will always be remembered as a cheater March 12, 2003 Judge denies UGA players' restraining order request March 12, 2003 Mandel: No quick fix for college basketball's problems

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Tony Cole doesn't feel sorry his allegations have led to the suspension of his former head coach, Jim Harrick, and the firing of Harrick's son, who was an assistant.

"I don't feel anything either way about the situations with the Harricks," Cole said in an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

"[Initially] Jim Harrick Jr. was suspended with pay. And Coach Harrick, if he is fired, he'll receive the million dollars or so left on his contract. But look what they did to me."

It was his first public comment since Georgia suspended Jim Harrick Sr., fired his son, and pulled out of the SEC or NCAA tournaments. A university investigation is continuing.

"I have a life to live, too," Cole said. "If I had not pursued this, everybody would say, 'Harrick's not going to take any crap. You see what he did to Tony Cole.' But I wasn't going to let him walk over me. It wasn't right. I didn't do anything."

The Times-Picayune said Cole has been in seclusion in his home town of Baton Rouge since the controversy broke out about a week ago. Attempts by The Associated Press to locate him were unsuccessful.

In January 2002, Georgia suspended Cole, starting forward Steve Thomas and football player Brandon Williams while university police investigated a report that a female student was raped in Cole's dorm room. Williams was acquitted of rape and assault charges in August. Charges against Cole and Thomas were dismissed following the acquittal. The woman later admitted having consensual sex with Cole, according to the police complaint.

Thomas and Williams were allowed back on their teams, their run-ins with the law seen as isolated incidents. Cole found out in September that he would not be allowed back.

Cole said he believed Harrick used him when he needed him, then abandoned him.

"All they had to do was let me play my last year," Cole said. "To me, they brought this on themselves. They are the ones who brought me up here, then they didn't give me any support when all of that stuff broke. They treated me like I was guilty. Right after the incident happened, [Harrick] wanted me to transfer instead of sticking by me to see what happened."

Cole's accusations against Georgia were first made in an interview with ESPN, when he accused Harrick Jr., a Georgia assistant coach, of paying bills for him, giving him an "A" in a class he never attended and arranging to have schoolwork done for him. Harrick Jr. was suspended the next day, then fired less than a week later.

A university investigation confirmed academic fraud, and two players who had taken the same class Cole did were declared academically ineligible.

Cole refused to attend the course taught by Harrick Jr., saying it was senseless to go to a class in which he was assured of getting an "A."

"Why should I go to a class about basketball when I already go to practice?" said Cole, who played in 16 games as a junior.

And Cole acknowledged he was not one to attend film sessions.

"I know what I did [in games]; I keep it in my head," he said. "I know what I can do. I'm not the type to go and talk to the coach. After practice, if it's beneficial to me, I'll go and talk to him. But I'm not going to kiss ass. I came here to play basketball and study. I do what I need to do [academically], go to practice, and that's it."

Cole admits that he gets in his fair share of troublesome situations.

He was kicked out of the Community College of Rhode Island after he was accused of groping two female students. The women filed a lawsuit, which was later dropped.

"Trouble may follow me, but I have success wherever I go. I can't blame anyone for my situations, but my upbringing has always been in the 'Hood," said Cole, who lived with various relatives and in foster homes after his mother was institutionalized with mental illness when he was 7.

"There's nothing that's going to change me. I know I'm intelligent. I'm always trying to gain knowledge, wisdom. If you ask me, I never was supposed to get this far."

 

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