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Colorado indicted by grand jury in recruiting scandal

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  • Colorado indicted by grand jury in recruiting scandal

    Aug. 22, 2004
    SportsLine.com wire reports

    DENVER -- A state grand jury has handed down an indictment regarding the use of prostitutes to entice football recruits to the University of Colorado, according to a published report.

    The Denver Post reported the development in its Sunday editions. The newspaper, however, does not say who is named in the indictment. Whomever is indicted will be notified within 10 days and then will have 10 days to respond.

    Ken Lane, spokesman for Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, did not return a phone call from the Associated Press seeking comment Sunday.

    Among those who testified before the panel were football coach Gary Barnett, Athletics Director Richard Tharp, several players and Pasha Cowan, the former manager of an escort service.

    Cowan said football recruiting aide Nathan Maxcey paid her $2,500 for three call girls to visit "very young, very athletic men" at Boulder-area hotels. Maxcey has denied any wrongdoing.

    The grand jury began its work in May after Gov. Bill Owens called for an investigation into allegations that the Colorado football program used sex, strippers and alcohol to recruit promising athletes.

    A commission appointed by the university regents concluded that players arranged sex, drugs and alcohol for recruits but said there was no evidence Colorado officials "knowingly sanctioned" the activities.

    Still pending are federal lawsuits filed by three women who say they were raped by recruits or players in December 2001.



    AP NEWS
    The Associated Press News Service

    Copyright 2004, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

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  • DJRamFan
    Barnett to go before grand jury probing Colorado scandal
    by DJRamFan
    July 30, 2004
    SportsLine.com wire reports

    DENVER -- Colorado football coach Gary Barnett was called Friday to appear before a grand jury investigating his program's recruiting practices.

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    Barnett did not immediately go before the panel. He wouldn't comment to reporters.

    He was suspended in February for comments he made about two women who accused football players of rape, then was reinstated in May after an investigative panel concluded he shouldn't be fired.

    The grand jury investigation is the first indication criminal charges could be filed in a scandal that led to sweeping changes in the football recruiting program and a scathing review of university leadership.

    At the governor's request, Attorney General Ken Salazar's office has been investigating. Salazar already decided against filing assault charges on allegations involving nine women dating to 1997, citing concerns about the evidence and the reluctance of the women to go forward with the cases.

    The grand jury has heard from players, director of football operations David Hansburg, campus police and others since May. Legal experts have said they think investigators are trying to figure out whether university funds were misused, among other things.

    Salazar's office has declined to comment.


    AP NEWS
    The Associated Press News Service

    Copyright 2004, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
    -08-02-2004, 03:23 PM
  • DJRamFan
    Colorado recruits will be allowed more contact with players
    by DJRamFan
    Jan. 19, 2005
    SportsLine.com wire reports

    BOULDER, Colo. -- The University of Colorado has relaxed some recruiting restrictions imposed last year amid a sex-and-alcohol scandal and is allowing prospective football players to spend more time meeting with current team members.

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    The university banned the use of "player-hosts" to show recruits around campus and required closer supervision by coaches after an independent commission found that some players had arranged sex, drugs and alcohol for recruits.

    Provost Phil DiStefano said Tuesday the university is now allowing recruits to spend more time one-on-one with current players "without coaches sitting there."

    Recruiting visits are still limited to one night and curfew remains 11 p.m., DiStefano said. Coaches, not players, are still responsible for the recruits during their stay, he said.

    The rules were eased after Jack Lengyel became interim athletic director, replacing Dick Tharp, who resigned. Lengyel said coach Gary Barnett brought up the issue about individual contact between players and recruits.

    "When I first came on board, we discussed policies and procedures and (Barnett and DiStefano) and the football staff agreed that kind of time was needed," Lengyel said.

    Some players recruited under the old rules complained.

    "I got to talk to players, but it was definitely restricted," said Jake Behrens, a fullback from Omaha, Neb., who still committed to Colorado. "I felt like I kind of lacked a point of view that I couldn't get from being around somebody for a longer period of time."

    The recruiting scandal occurred a year ago after a woman filed a lawsuit saying she was raped at an off-campus party attended by CU players and recruits. At least nine women, including former CU kicker Katie Hnida, have alleged they were raped by football players or recruits since 1997, but no criminal sexual assault charges were filed.

    AP NEWS
    The Associated Press News Service

    Copyright 2004-2005, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
    -01-20-2005, 08:09 AM
  • DJRamFan
    After review, BYU replaces men's and women's ADs
    by DJRamFan
    Sept. 8, 2004
    SportsLine.com wire reports

    PROVO, Utah -- BYU fired its men's and women's athletic directors Wednesday and merged the two departments, the result of an internal review commissioned in May.

    The school didn't renew the contracts of Val Hale, the men's athletic director, and Elaine Michaelis, the women's AD. They were immediately replaced by a team of department officials, including former California football coach Tom Holmoe. K. Fred Skousen, the school's advancement vice president, said a formal search for a new athletic director would not begin for three to six months.

    Skousen said the changes were not related to an ongoing investigation by the Utah County Attorney's office into a 17-year-old girl's claim that she was raped by several people she believed to be BYU football players.

    Hale, a BYU graduate, was the men's athletic director since 1999 and was an associate AD for 10 years before that.

    Michaelis was in her 10th year of overseeing BYU's 11 women's sports. She also coached volleyball, basketball, softball and field hockey for the Cougars.



    AP NEWS
    The Associated Press News Service

    Copyright 2004, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
    -09-09-2004, 10:06 AM
  • DJRamFan
    Ex-Nevada RB gets probation for assault, attempted robbery
    by DJRamFan
    Jan. 26, 2005
    SportsLine.com wire reports

    RENO, Nev. -- A former running back for the Nevada football team was sentenced to five years' probation Tuesday in connection with an incident that occurred in September 2003.

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    Joseph Bwire, 20, who also played at Reno's McQueen High School, pleaded guilty in Washoe County District Court in October to assault with a deadly weapon and attempted burglary.

    He allegedly fired a single shot from a handgun as he tried to flee after a residential burglary.

    The assault charge carries a penalty of up to six years in state prison and up to $5,000 fine. The attempted burglary charge could lead to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

    Both the district attorney's office and the Division of Parole and Probation both urged prison time for Bwire.

    Washoe District Judge Steven R. Kosatch sentenced him to 1-4 years on each count, then suspended the prison term and placed him on probation.

    AP NEWS
    The Associated Press News Service

    Copyright 2004-2005, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
    -01-27-2005, 01:32 PM
  • DJRamFan
    Lawsuit to protect coaches from litigation moves ahead
    by DJRamFan
    Oct. 14, 2004
    SportsLine.com wire reports

    KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Attorneys have withdrawn their motion to dismiss a lawsuit requesting a judge to rule that information coaches give NCAA investigators cannot be considered defamatory.

    The American Football Coaches Association and the NCAA filed a lawsuit in March against a former Alabama recruit and Tennessee player and his mother after they threatened to sue Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer over statements he made to NCAA investigators about them.

    Attorneys for Kenny Smith and Vicki Smith Dagnan on Thursday filed a notice with the Knox County Chancery Court to withdraw their motion to dismiss the lawsuit, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. A hearing on the motion to dismiss had been scheduled for Friday.

    "We have decided we are going to go forward with the case and we are going to file an answer to the lawsuit," Memphis attorney Philip Shanks said.

    "I'm not in the least surprised," Fulmer's attorney, Jeff Hagood, said about withdrawing the motion.

    According to NCAA documents leaked from a federal criminal case involving a former Alabama booster, Fulmer told an NCAA investigator in 2000 that there were rumors Kenny Smith's mother was involved with an Alabama assistant coach.

    The Smiths filed a defamation lawsuit against Fulmer in an Alabama court, which was dismissed this summer for lack of jurisdiction.

    The coaches' lawsuit was filed in Knoxville, and Fulmer was later added as a plaintiff.

    The Smiths' attorneys filed a notice earlier this month that they want to take Fulmer's deposition on Nov. 10, a bye week for the Volunteers.

    But Shanks wrote to Fulmer's attorneys that the date could be changed if necessary.

    The NCAA contends threats of litigation would make coaches reluctant to provide information in investigations.

    The Smiths do not believe coaches should be given special legal protection.

    AP NEWS
    The Associated Press News Service

    Copyright 2004, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
    -10-14-2004, 04:13 PM
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