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University of Louisiana President Ray Authement said Monday the school has received no formal notification of an investigation by the NCAA into claims of wrongdoing in the men's basketball program made last week by former UL recruit Berry Jordan.
"We've had no correspondence with the NCAA or anyone else on the matter," Authement told The Daily Advertiser. "Usually, with NCAA investigations, you don't get the results until they are complete.
"We have no notification that there is an investigation. Normally, we would be notified if that were the case," he said.
The NCAA did not respond to requests for comments from The Advertiser on Monday.
It's not unusual for the NCAA to conduct a probe, determine the possible validity of any claims and then inform a university it has a certain period of time in which to respond to allegations.
If there is found to be enough evidence to warrant a response from the school, the issue of institutional control of the athletic program often becomes a key element in determining the severity of the penalty imposed on the school.
The Advertiser filed a state public records request Thursday for all correspondence between the athletic department and the NCAA involving the men's basketball program from Aug. 1, 2004, to the present, and that request is being processed by UL officials. In accordance with the Public Records Act of Louisiana, the university has three working days, or until today, to notify the paper in writing if it believes the documents are not public record.
"David Walker, who represents us on in-house matters, and (compliance director) Kristi Stake are going over the documents to see which ones seem pertinent to this case," Authement said.
Stake is out of town this week at an NCAA compliance conference.
"I've been in this long enough to take everything seriously," Authement said. "We'll go about ascertaining the facts, and then say this is what we're going to do.
"Jordan was a recruit, he wasn't a student, so he wasn't involved in anything. Obviously, if it turns into something and it merits some kind of response, then we're being very, very cautious."
Jordan alleged that UL coach Robert Lee paid for him to attend summer school, and that he twice received payments of $150 each from the coaching staff. He also said a bus ticket to his hometown of Jacksonville, Fla., was provided by the school.
In a previous interview, Jordan said he filed his complaint with the NCAA so future recruits would not endure similar problems. He has one year of eligibility remaining and plans to finish his college career.
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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com