Anatomy Of A Scandal

"I never saw the money in his hand, but as he and Paul were getting out of the car, he told me, 'Let me run up here,' " Lockhart says." 'I at least need to give them this much money now, because in a day or two their phone is going to be cut off.' Later, in the car, Paul said, 'Man, did you see their faces when you walked in with the money?' "

Says Cebrun, "I don't know about any Florida State players getting any monies. I never put it in their hands." But he concedes that he offered to fly players to Las Vegas after the season, an offer that might also constitute an NCAA violation.

Williams, though, confirms Lockhart's account: "I can say 100 percent that Cebrun paid players. I know he gave them something, but I can't say how much. We went door-to-door, had individual talks. I can't remember which ones he gave money to. We went to everybody's door."

Williams says that after Cebrun paid the players, the players were impressed that Cebrun had "kept his word." According to Williams, Cebrun later told him, " 'If you show them that you're for real and come through, you'll get them every time.' "

Lockhart recalls the conversation too. She says, "He told Paul, 'You got those guys now. You don't have to worry. They have seen that we do what we say.' "

Cebrun enlisted Williams to help keep an eye on the Seminole players who had filled out the questionnaires. He also gave Williams instructions on how best to recruit Ward. Williams says he was told to offer Ward seven pairs of shoes, seven Starter jackets and seven caps. Then he was supposed to tell Ward to call Endicott. "I tried to spend time with Charlie Ward, but he was to himself," says Williams, whose overtures to Ward on behalf of Cebrun were rebuffed.

The Seminole players began referring to Williams as "Ole Boy, the little runaround guy," according to Sawyer. "He was a lowlife," Sawyer says. "All he did was walk around there, check up on us. asking, 'Y'all need some money?' A couple of days after Coach Nate had been there the first time, [Williams] told me, 'Coach Nate told me to give this to you.' I was like, O.K., thanks. I wasn't gonna turn down money. It was about $60 or $80, no more than $100. It was in $20 bills. He said, 'Coach Nate said just give this to all the guys.' I was like, 'Cool.' " Williams says he gave Sawyer an amount closer to $250. Of the six players who according to SI's sources accepted improper payments, only Sawyer admits having done so. The others—Ferrell, Jackson, Knox, McMillon and McNeil—deny taking the cash.

Williams says that he was promised a $300-a-week salary by Cebrun. The money was to come from Bey. Williams promptly quit his $6-an-hour job stacking shelves at Harvey's grocery store. "Nate and Raul wanted the players to be my main concern," Williams says. "They wanted me to baby-sit the players 24 hours a day. The players would come to me for cash. If they had to take their girlfriends out, they asked me for $20.I spent all my time at the dorm, trying to cater to their every need."

Williams says the money that he handed out to the players was wired to him from Bey on at least three occasions. Bey, however, will admit only to giving Williams money so that Williams could get his car out of the shop, and implies that if Williams was paying the Seminoles, he was doing it on his own or at the direction of Cebrun. "I never authorized payments to players or gave anyone money to give to players," Bey says. "Nate Cebrun asked for a lot of money a lot of times that he said was necessary to conduct the business at hand."

Asked to respond to that allegation, Cebrun points the finger right back at Bey: "All the funding came from Raul. I had no money."