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 Confusion at Iowa hits a 'trey' in Recker welcome
Posted: Friday May 07, 1999 12:47 PM
By Wayne Drehs
Iowa City, Iowa (U-WIRE) -- Confusion reigned Thursday as officials from the UI Athletics Department and Greek community confirmed and denied bits of information concerning the alleged planning of a gathering to welcome Indiana transfer Luke Recker. A report in Thursday's edition of The Daily Iowan quoted Josh Luther as saying the men's basketball coaching staff planned a welcoming event for Recker, a junior-to-be who left the Hoosiers after last season. UI fraternity chapters were asked to attend a "pep rally" at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 4:45 p.m. Friday. Planning a pep rally or any similar event for a recruit could be a violation of NCAA recruiting rules. Thursday afternoon, Iowa basketball Head Coach Steve Alford released a statement denying the report. Alford said, "I have had no intention of staging a pep rally for any incoming recruits. Such publicity and events would constitute violations of NCAA rules. "We are not interested in any recruitment practices that are not permissible." Prior to Alford's statement, Nick Navarro, community relations officer for the InterFraternity Council, told the DI that Kevin McClean, a member of his fraternity, was asked by men's basketball administrative assistant Brian Jones to gather Greek students for the event. Jones was an assistant basketball coach at Rock Island, Ill., Alleman High School from 1994-96. McClean was a junior on the team during Jones' final season at the school, and Alleman Head Coach Larry Schulte said Jones and McClean know each other "real well." The plan was announced Wednesday during the IFC presidents' meeting. "(Jones) just asked if we could get a bunch of basketball fans and welcome (Recker) and help bring him in," Navarro said. "I was never told it was a keep-quiet issue." That's where the confusion begins. McClean said Jones did not contact him about the idea; he considers the accusations and rumors "a total misunderstanding." "I never talked to (Jones) once," McClean said. "Navarro thought I talked to him and figured that was it. That's the only thing I can think." When contacted by the DI, Jones also denied having any conversations with McClean or any other fraternity member. He said there were preliminary discussions among the coaching staff about possibly having the band or some cheerleaders to welcome Recker. But after conferring with high-ranking officials in the Athletics Department, it was determined that those tactics could be against NCAA rules. "This all has been completely blown out of proportion," Jones said. "We checked with compliance and knew it was against the rules. I didn't contact anybody." UI spirit coordinator Gregg Niemiec said he was not contacted by any Athletics Department officials about a special appearance Friday for the cheerleading squad. Later Thursday, Navarro said the IFC was sticking by its story, that the idea did originate somewhere in the Athletics Department. Another IFC officer scoffed at the suggestion that the event could have been Greek-generated. "It's not like we want to get the team in trouble, but we don't want to look like a bunch of idiots," Recruitment Director Justin Heiden said. "(The Athletics Department) is covering its tracks." The underlying question is how the IFC would have known about Recker's planned visit, not to mention the time at which Greek members should arrive at Carver-Hawkeye. Nobody involved could explain the origin of the place and the time. "That I don't know," McClean said. "I guess we just assumed it would be at Carver." The DI obtained a copy of the minutes from Wednesday's IFC presidents' meeting, which stated: "May 7 Luke Recker (Amazing Bball player at IN) is coming to visit 4:45 p.m. He's thinking about transferring to Iowa. Come welcome him at Carver this Friday!" Recker's father, Clair, of Washington, Iowa, said his son will arrive in Iowa Friday at about 5 p.m. Luke Recker visited the University of Florida Wednesday and Thursday and was scheduled to return to Bloomington, Ind., Thursday night. Thursday, for the second straight day Scott Cornelis, a member of the UI men's Sports Information Department, confirmed that some sort of an event was being discussed at some point. He added, however, that it was only in the planning stages and that nothing had been finalized. Cornelis also said he didn't expect the event to be large but added that he heard of plans to announce Recker's name over the Carver P.A. system. "They really wanted to put on a big effort to make (Recker) feel welcome," he said.
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