BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
University of Cincinnati President Joseph Steger's first public pronouncement on the
three-month investigation of junior guard Charles Williams' eligibility explains the school is proceeding cautiously because ''people's lives and careers could be affected.''
In a letter addressed to the school's board of trustees, faculty, students, athletic boosters and fans, Steger outlined the genesis of the internal investigation and revealed that NCAA enforcement staff personnel had participated in some interviews.
He stated that investigators have conducted the majority of interviews necessary to finish the probe but did not promise a quick announcement of the findings.
Steger said the investigation began when UC received a letter dated Jan. 28, 1997, requesting a review of Williams' eligibility. The NCAA issued letters to a number of member schools that had athletes attend Compton (Calif.) College because of concern about ''the large quantity of credit hours earned'' by some NCAA athletes.
Williams, who transferred to UC after playing the 1995-96 season at Chaffey (Calif.) College, briefly attended Compton after finishing his spring term at Chaffey without a junior college degree. He completed the requirements in summer school classes taken at UC last August.
A copy of the NCAA correspondence from enforcement representative Guy H. Troupe shows UC was asked to examine four areas of Williams' record regarding his attendance of Compton and subsequent enrollment at UC. The UC athletic department was asked to produce documents to summarize the results of that inquiry:
- Whether credits earned at Compton were used to meet graduation or minimum course requirements for NCAA eligibility;
- The transcripts by which Williams' eligibility was certified;
- Williams' statement regarding why he was directed to attend Compton;
- A statement listing what classes Williams took at Compton, how he traveled to Compton to enroll and attend his first day of classes, Williams' date of enrollment at UC and how he traveled to Cincinnati to enroll and paid for that trip and how he paid for Compton classes.
According to Chaffey coach George Tarkanian, Williams took one three-credit class at Compton, where he was eligible for tuition remission and could easily commute from his home in South Central Los Angeles.
Sources close to the investigation said inspection of Williams' travel records to answer the last item led to the discovery a UC professor had paid for a plane ticket for the player to spend the Christmas holidays with his family in Los Angeles.
Williams was suspended from the team Feb. 26 and missed the final six games, including those in the Conference USA and NCAA tournaments.
The investigation has continued to pursue the source of the funding for Williams' trip to Cincinnati to enroll in junior college-level courses at UC and the tuition for those courses. Williams has said Tarkanian paid his expenses; Tarkanian has said he arranged for the money to come from associates of Williams in the Los Angeles area.
Steger's letter said the university conducted a preliminary investigation and then turned to the firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King of Overland Park, Kan., and attorney Mike Glazier, who specializes in NCAA rules compliance investigations.
A letter from Ohio Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery to Glazier dated March 14, 1997, states he was hired effective Feb. 1 at a rate of $195 per hour. The contract caps the attorney's fees at $20,000 and states the agreement expires June 30, although it does provide for the possibility of additional payments if an amended assignment is issued by the state's Director of Special Counsel.
In cases that were precipitated by news accounts of alleged NCAA rules violations, Florida State and Louisville ran up substantial legal fees and avoided severe sanctions after retaining Glazier's firm.
The St. Petersburg Times reported that the firm's eight-month investigation in 1994 of alleged rules violations in Florida State's football program cost the school $400,000. Glazier indicated he found no major NCAA violations, but 14 he termed in ''the lower range of infractions.''
According to the Louisville Courier-Journal,
the investigation of the Cardinals basketball program in 1996 cost in excess of $250,000, with a large chunk of that going to Bond, Schoeneck & King. Louisville did not receive a ban on television or NCAA Tournament appearances although it self-reported nine rules violations.
Postseason
HUGGINS' RIFT WITH O'DELL ERUPTS April 26, 1997
BLIZZARD PICKS UMASS OVER UC April 25, 1997
NORTH IDAHO GUARD TO SIGD April 21, 1997
UC GETS SPRING VISITS FROM BLIZZARD, JONES April 19, 1997
UC LOSES OUSLEY TO MEMPHIS April 15, 1997
JUCO PAIR COMMITS TO UC April 14, 1997
BRANNEN: NO FOOTBALL THIS YEAR April 11, 1997
KAMBALA PICKS UNLV OVER UC April 10, 1997
PREP STAR NARROWS LIST TO 3 April 7, 1997
WILLIAMS SAYS HE'S RETURNING April 5, 1997
BRANNEN WALKS ON FOOTBALL SQUAD April 4, 1997
FORTSON: 'I KNOW I CAN PLAY' April 2, 1997
RECRUITING TAKES ON URGENCY April 2, 1997
WOODEN SELECTORS SPURN FORTSON April 2, 1997
FORTSON LEAPS TO NBA April 1, 1997
BEST GUESS: FORTSON'S GONE, AND HUGGINS COULD GO, TOO March 17, 1997
NCAA Tournament stories
MARCH 16, 1997
IOWA STATE 67, UC 66
UC LOSS NOT ALL SURPRISING Daugherty column
BRANNEN BECOMES SCORER
MARCH 15, 1997
IDENTITY CHECK FOR UC
IOWA STATE GETS ASSISTS FROM HOLLOWAY
MARCH 14, 1997
UC 80, BUTLER 69
IOWA STATE IS TALL ORDER
20 MINUTES ENOUGH FOR UC THIS TIME Daugherty column
MARCH 13, 1997
UC'S FORTUNES HINGE ON FORTSON
NCAA LETTER LED TO WILLIAMS INQUIRY
WILLIAMS PUNISHED BEFORE TRIAL Daugherty column
HUGGINS TO OSU? A COMMON QUERY
MARCH 12,1997
GUARD PROBLEMS PLAGUE BEARCATS
HUGGINS QUOTES GILLEN ON OSU JOB
MARCH 11, 1997
FORTSON ALL-AMERICAN
WILLIAMS PREPARES TO START
MARSHALL HAS THE MUSCLE TO CHECK FORTSON
MARCH 10, 1997
UC, XU ON COLLISION COURSE IN SWEET 16
LET FORTSON PLAY, REFS - IT'S HIS TIME Daugherty column
OPPONENT DOESN'T MATTER TO BEARCATS
BUTLER ROSTER HAS LOCAL FLAVOR
