By TODD KELLY
The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger

BRANDON, Miss. - A former high school football standout told an NCAA investigator that he was given $800 by Mississippi State assistant coach Glenn Davis to pay for two classes at a private school last summer.

If the allegation is true, it might constitute a serious rules violation for a program that has been under the NCAA microscope since last summer and received official notification in March that it was under investigation. Major infractions often lead to serious penalties, such as the loss of scholarships and bans from postseason competition.

Giving money or other gifts to prospects is forbidden in nearly all cases by NCAA rules.

Ken Griffith, an All-State linebacker from Brandon High School who committed to Mississippi State last June, made the allegations to the NCAA enforcement representative Rich Johanningmeier on March 24. In February, Griffith had changed his mind about Mississippi State and signed with the University of Southern Mississippi.

Brandon assistant coach Vic Shivers, whom Griffith said was the middleman in the exchange, denied the charge.

Davis referred questions to his lawyer, Mike Younger, who said: "I don't think my client did anything inappropriate at all."

Griffith told The Clarion-Ledger on April 3 that he took physical science and advanced world geography classes last summer in an effort to improve his grade-point average and increase his chances of being eligible to play as a freshman in college. Griffith has yet to meet NCAA academic eligibility requirements, which require incoming freshmen to meet a minimum standard that includes grade-point average, core courses and a standardized-test score.

Johanningmeier "asked how did I pay for (summer school)," Griffith said. "And I told him that I couldn't afford to pay for it. Then he asked my mother did she pay for it. She was like, 'Nope.' So then he asked me how I got the money, and I told him I got it from coach Davis, Glenn Davis, and that was the end of that."

Griffith said only $400 went toward summer school tuition; he learned near the end of the session that his high school accepted only one summer-school credit per year.

"When I asked coach Davis if he wanted (the $400) back, he said, 'No, keep it,' " Griffith said.

According to a preliminary letter of inquiry that Mississippi State President Charles Lee received in March, among the allegations the NCAA is looking into are "offers and inducements to prospective student-athletes ... by current and former members of the football coaching staff."

The NCAA does not make its enforcement staff members available for interviews, nor does it comment about ongoing investigations, said Melody Lawrence, an assistant director of public relations for the NCAA.

Shivers, a former college linebacker and fourth-year Brandon assistant, said he gave Griffith some money, but it didn't come from Davis, was far less than $800 and was money Griffith earned by washing Shivers' wife's car.