Low Tide

Plea in Means case may keep dirty laundry in hamper

More in this column: • Family matters • Dog's day in court • Making Hayes in Georgia

If you like keeping tabs on the seamy side of college sports, this news flash was a downer. You weren’t rooting for Lynn Lang, a former Memphis high school football coach, to cop a plea.

No, you wanted the ambitious ex-coach, teacher and role model to have his day in court. You further relished the thought of college coaches parading to the stand in suit and tie, forced under oath to fess up about the recruiting trade. Coaches from places like Alabama, Florida State, Georgia and Kentucky -- fine institutions that, at one point or another, recruited Lang’s prized player, Albert Means.

The good news, I guess, is this mess isn’t going away. But the damage isn’t likely to spread much beyond Alabama, already stomped by the NCAA, perhaps a fabled Tide booster and a few fringe characters.

In pleading guilty to a felony count of racketeering last week, Lang admitted receiving $150,000 from Memphis businessman Logan Young to steer Means to Alabama two years ago. He also said that former Alabama assistants Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams were in on the deal, and that Williams arranged for someone to take the ACT test for Means.

Lang is expected to cooperate with prosecutors in their investigation of the Alabama booster and two former coaches.

“This has really changed everything," said Milton Kirk, Lang’s assistant coach at Trezevant High. “Based on what Lang said, it looks like some of them have lied [to the grand jury]."

Kirk himself is scheduled for sentencing next month after pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge in the scheme to sell Means to the highest bidder. But it was also his revealing the plan to a Memphis newspaper last year that prompted the federal investigation.

Lang and Kirk spoke for the first time in two years last weekend. “Well, he apologized," Kirk said.

No word yet on whether Lang has reached out to Means. After his freshman season at Alabama, the Parade All-American defensive tackle enrolled at the University of Memphis and the NCAA waived its transfer rules to make him immediately eligible.

Means, who married last summer, is academically ineligible and it’s uncertain whether he’ll return to the Memphis program.

Family matters

Lebron James, the 6-foot-7 high school senior who’s expected to go straight to the NBA, may bring a touch of baggage with him. The teenager’s father figure, Eddie Jackson Jr., faces bank fraud and mail fraud charges as part of a federal mortgage fraud investigation.

Jackson allegedly used phony documents to obtain $107,200 in mortgage loans from an Akron, Ohio, bank in 1999. He’s already scheduled for sentencing in state court next week after pleading guilty in a scheme to have properties appraised through a mortgage brokerage that resulted in inflated sale prices.

It’s silly, of course, to imagine NBA clubs thinking any of less of young Mr. James. Nor should they. And if they did, there is always college ball.

Dog's day in court

No need to fret about Glenn Robinson lagging more than normal on the defensive end when the Atlanta Hawks host the Toronto Raptors next Tuesday night. Robinson had a Chicago court appearance scheduled earlier in the day, but the judge moved it to this Friday to accommodate his NBA obligations.

In case you missed it, the All-Star forward has pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal possession of a firearm, domestic battery and assault -- all misdemeanors. His bad behavior dates to the wee hours of July 20, when “Big Dog" allegedly roughed up his ex-fiancee in her suburban Chicago home.

The Hawks are banking that Robinson won’t get jail time or an NBA suspension, though his attorney George Murtaugh said, “I’m getting ready as if it’s going to be a full blown trial."

A trial date isn’t likely to be set Friday, but prosecutors are expected to turn over paperwork and witness statements. Asked if he held hope of the case being dismissed at the hearing, Murtaugh said: “Absolutely not."

Making Hayes in Georgia

A respected talent evaluator, after taking in a recent Georgia basketball practice, tells us that Bulldog forward Jarvis Hayes is better than advertised. Hayes, a preseason all-SEC pick, quietly transferred from Western Carolina two seasons ago with his twin, Jonas. Word is he might now be a top-10 draft pick.

“He reminds me so much of Glen Rice," said the evaluator. “Same size, about 6-7 ... knockdown shooter from anywhere. Doesn’t really handle it well, but he’s a great athlete."

While Jarvis (220 pounds) excels on the perimeter, his twin, Jonas (6-8, 240) is a nice college player known more for his physical muscle inside. The talent level isn’t close, though. And Jonas probably isn’t NBA material. “No way he gets drafted," said our expert. "He doesn’t even get drafted in the military."

Mike Fish is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

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