Further discipline

Missouri suspends another staffer for phone violations

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- A third basketball staff member at Missouri has been disciplined this year, this time after reporting he failed to turn in two players who used coaches' phones to make $452 in calls.

The university suspended director of basketball operations Lee Rashman for four weeks without pay starting April 23 and has frozen his salary until September 2004, according to a letter Missouri sent to the NCAA in February.

The NCAA took no further action, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Saturday.

The action against Rashman follows discipline issued to Tigers coach Quin Snyder and assistant coach Lane Odom two months ago for violating NCAA rules on calling recruits.

The school told the NCAA last month that Odom, on five occasions, violated a rule limiting coaches to calling a recruit once a week. The calls were made between January and April 2002 to Ricky Clemons, then a sophomore at the College of Southern Idaho. Clemons played this season at Missouri.

The school suspended Odom from recruiting for five weeks and Snyder, who had also made calls to Clemons during that time, for three weeks, the newspaper said.

Missouri told the NCAA it discovered the violations on Jan. 30, six days after the Post-Dispatch asked to inspect the coaches' phone records.

The newspaper also reported Friday that phone records indicate Missouri may have violated NCAA rules by calling the mother of Jason Conley -- the nation's leading scorer in 2002 -- before he asked for a release from the Virginia Military Institute.

Karyne Conley has said the school was the first to call after VMI released her son from his scholarship on Jan. 4. Five days later, Conley agreed to transfer to Missouri. A 6-foot-5 guard, Conley has enrolled at Missouri as a transfer but is not eligible to play for the team until December.

The Post-Dispatch said members of Missouri's basketball staff called Karyne Conley's cell and office phones at least six times before her son sought a release from VMI.

Karyne Conley told the newspaper she did not speak with anyone from Missouri before VMI granted that release.

It is unclear whether Missouri could face any NCAA sanctions for what its officials believe is not a major violation.

Missouri athletic director Mike Alden said he was unaware of the calls, and that the school "will absolutely look into that."

According to the Post-Dispatch, calls on Dec. 26 and Dec. 31 were made from Snyder's desk. A call Dec. 31 was from Odom's mobile phone. One call on Dec. 30 and two on Jan. 2 were from Rashman. Snyder told the newspaper last week he feels strongly that his program "did nothing wrong" while recruiting Conley. In the Rashman matter, the Post-Dispatch said, Rashman in the fall of 2001 learned that two players at Missouri had made $452 in calls using coaches' office phones. He ordered the players to stop making the calls and took steps to prevent further usage, though he did not report the incidents to compliance officials, according to the school's letter to the NCAA.

The players were Jeffrey Ferguson and Duane John. Ferguson was suspended in February for three games; John was cut from the team after a marijuana arrest last year and now plays for New Mexico State University. Rashman, Ferguson and John's names were blacked out in the copy of the letter provided to the Post-Dispatch by the university, but each was identifiable in other documents related to Missouri's report of the incident to the NCAA.

 

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