Tracking the Josh Peter Story

[Turbine]

Louisiana La. -- It has been thirty years since minor infractions (by todays standards) caused the bogus basketball death penalty that hit Louisiana's 1973 campus.

Now we have more bogus allegations.

[NewsCopy]

The NCAA prohibits colleges athletes from using their status to gain 'extra benefits' -- such as the use of a car or jobs for family members -- but it's not always easy to determine what the rules allow

When he's driving the black 2000 Nissan Altima across campus, Duke point guard Chris Duhon is easy to spot. A dead giveaway is the personalized license plate: C DOO 21.

Duhon wears jersey No. 21, and he directs Duke's offense with the same steadiness he showed at Salmen High School in Slidell, but the car might surprise the people from his hometown. After all, in high school Duhon didn't have a car, and had to hitch rides with friends or borrow his mother's 1972 Volkswagen Beetle, a former Salmen teammate said.

But things have changed since 2000, when Duhon enrolled at Duke and his mother, Vivian Harper, moved to Durham, N.C., to be close to her oldest son. Harper, who got a job at a company run by a Duke basketball supporter, now owns a 1993 Jeep Cherokee. She also owns the Altima, according to North Carolina motor vehicle records.

More conspicuous than Duhon's Altima is the black 1998 Mercedes SUV with gray trim being driven by Brandon Bass, a high school All-American from Baton Rouge who has committed to play basketball at LSU. Then there's the white 2002 Cadillac Escalade being driven by Anthony Johnson, a senior guard at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

While the recent academic scandals at Georgia, Fresno State and St. Bonaventure constitute alleged NCAA rules violations, less clear are examples such as those involving Duhon, Bass and Johnson. NCAA rules prohibit college athletes from using their athletic status or future earning potential to receive "extra benefits," defined by NCAA rules as "any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a representative of the institution's athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the student-athlete's relative or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by the NCAA legislation."

A three-month investigation by The Times-Picayune found:

-- Duhon's mother, Vivian Harper, landed a job working for a Duke booster; co-workers say the job opening was never posted and that Harper was overpaid and lacked qualifications. When a manager at the company asked why Harper was moving from Louisiana, supervisors informed him that her son, one of the nation's top recruits, had signed to play at Duke.

-- Bass has regular use of a Mercedes-Benz that the wife of an adviser said she owns and allows him to use. The adviser, Terry Reado, previously worked for a sports agent firm and played a central role in Bass' recruitment by colleges. Reado acknowledged that he took dozens of calls each day from college coaches inquiring about Bass.

-- Johnson has been seen frequently driving a Cadillac Escalade owned by a woman who at one time registered a car at the same address as ULL head coach Jessie Evans, according to vehicle records. One of Johnson's former coaches said the player lived with Evans for several months.

Determining whether such arrangements are within NCAA rules can be difficult.

David Price, the NCAA's vice president for enforcement services, said he can't comment on specific cases. But he said, "You're probably going through some of the same thought processes that our investigators go through, in having to find if those are legitimate transactions."

The NCAA doesn't investigate every case brought to its attention. Price said it's a matter of resources: Because the enforcement staff has only 16 investigators to monitor about 1,000 schools -- including more than 300 schools that compete in Division I sports -- Price's staff determines if it has enough credible information before proceeding with a full-blown investigation.

The enforcement staff's $4 million budget is less than 1 percent of the NCAA's annual revenue, which this year includes $360 million from television rights for the men's tournament, culminating this weekend with the Final Four at the Superdome.

"We play the hand we're dealt," Price said. "I also do not believe that the membership (schools) would be interested in having a huge throng of investigators roaming the country."

The rest of the story

The Times-Picayune
By Josh Peter
Staff writer

Josh Peter can be reached at jpeter@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3407.

[NewsCopy]

The Josh Peter story - sweet ride or rimjob?

Let me see if I have this straight.

Lebron James, the best prep player in the world and soon to be a member of the NBA, drives a brand new Hummer that includes more televisions in it than do most family dwellings. In Baton Rouge, LSU recruit and high school All-American Brandon Bass has been known to tool around in a 1998 Mercedes ML-320. Another high school All-American, Duke point guard Chris Duhon, drives a 2000 Nissan Altima with personalized license plates. But University of Louisiana at Lafayette departing senior Anthony Johnson, who didn't even make All-Sun Belt this year, has access to a 2002 Cadillac Escalade.

What's wrong with this picture?

A lot, and in more ways than one.

Staff Writer Josh Peter's article in last Thursday's edition of the New Orleans Times-Picayune definitely stirred the pot among local basketball fans. Depending on who you talk to, Peters is either the most enterprising journalist since Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein or he's the antichrist. His story, well-researched and loaded with quotes and implications, has cast at least the shadow of doubt on the integrity of the three basketball programs involved. Considering the timing involved, what with the NCAA Final Four being played at the Superdome last weekend, the story also sold a lot of newspapers.

The rest of the story

The Times
Don Allen / Sports and Movies

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. — Louisiana’s investigation into possible illegal extra benefits provided to Ragin’ Cajun basketball player Anthony Johnson apparently now has a point guard.

Athletic Director Nelson Schexnayder said Wednesday that the university is hoping to retain the services of Charles E. Smrt, a former member of the NCAA enforcement staff, to look into allegations listed in a New Orleans Times-Picayune story one week ago.


“I’m not handling the discussions,” Schexnayder said Wednesday, “but that’s what I understand is going to happen.”

Schexnayder said that the investigation will be coordinated through the university’s Office of Auxiliary Services. David Walker, director of that office, has in the past coordinated similar inquiries into allegations of NCAA wrongdoing.

Louisiana President Dr. Ray Authement favored an independent investigator, according to Schexnayder.

Smrt formerly served as the NCAA’s director of enforcement, but left the organization at approximately the same time that the NCAA moved its headquarters from Shawnee Mission, Kan., to Indianapolis in 1999.

During his time with the NCAA, Smrt was involved with investigations involving several high-profile student-athletes, including former Rhode Island basketball player Lamar Odom.

Smrt was listed in 2000 as part of a firm called The Compliance Group, which assisted with internal inquiries into possible NCAA infractions for several schools.

The rest of the story

South Louisiana Publishing
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com

[snote]

sportsnoteradio 9-10 am espn1420

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. - The University of Louisiana has begun investigating whether its men's basketball program violated NCAA rules.

Athletic director Nelson Schexnayder said Thursday the school is checking to see whether basketball coach Jessie Evans provided extra benefits to senior guard Anthony Johnson.

The school also wants to find out whether a woman whose car Johnson has been seen driving could be considered a representative of the school's athletic interests, Schexnayder said.

The rest of the story

[RaginRash]

Originally posted by snote

the sporstnote.. a show you can be proud to say "you" listen to..
-----------------
weekday mornings .. 9-10 .. espn1420.com (listen live link)

All mullets are proud to listen in snote!!

[snote]

(chuckling)..

[Zeebart21]

Say Breeze, I caught the tail end of that conversation yesterday.

It appeared to me that the caller was a "WHINER".

Maybe he has an allegiance to another school????

you have much more patience than thou, sir William.

The Z.

[Crowley Cajun]

This morning, someone posted this article on the Delphi board. It looks like ace reporter, Josh Peters is still on the case.



http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index...8789108740.xml

[1stTake]

Originally posted by Crowley Cajun
This morning, someone posted this article on the Delphi board. It looks like ace reporter, Josh Peters is still on the case.

http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index...8789108740.xml

The laws on investigators are as stupid as the laws on cutting hair.

[cajun tom]

How come Nelson Schexnayder never appears on your show?