Possible Oklahoma Recruiting Violations

[50's PONY]

By Carter Stickland, Staff Writer
NORMAN — The NCAA has initiated an investigation into whether Oklahoma’s men’s basketball program broke rules that limit telephone calls to recruits.

The scope of that investigation may reach back several years, a source said. Coaches are allowed one phone call a week to recruits, parents or legal guardians.

But phone records obtained by The Oklahoman show representatives of the OU program called an Amarillo, Texas, player and his mother eighteen times last August. Members of the OU staff called a Seattle recruit and his family thirteen times in September.

Those instances are not included in the ongoing NCAA investigation.

Contacted late Saturday, Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson acknowledged violations in the past.

“There was a rule broken in the case of a couple of kids,” Sampson said. “We’re working with (the NCAA), and we’re doing whatever it takes to take care of it.”

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a statement released by the school, “We have been informed that the NCAA is examining whether or not there were too many phone calls made to potential recruits by the men’s basketball program in the past.”

In most cases, the NCAA has considered breaking this rule as a secondary violation, defined as “one that is isolated or inadvertent in nature.”

There is the possibility that if there were significant similar violations over an extended period of time, the penalty could rise to a major infraction, which could lead to probation and loss of scholarships.

Most coaches take issue with the rule because of its rigidity in what is not a cut-and-dry process. An example cited by coaches is this: A coach calls a recruit, the parent answers and says the recruit is not there. Call back at this time. If the coach calls back, he is in violation of the rule.

“We are cooperating fully with the NCAA and are conducting our own review as well,” Castiglione said in the statement. “If problems have occurred, we will move aggressively to correct them.”

The Oklahoman reviewed the men’s basketball office phone records and the cell phone records for coaches Kelvin Sampson, Bob Hoffman, Ray McCallum and Bennie Seltzer from July 2004 through January 2005.

Phone records of all publicly funded university athletic departments are available through Oklahoma’s Freedom of Information Act.

The newspaper has learned of several possible violations that may be folding into the ongoing NCAA investigation:

• In August, there were 18 phone calls made by members of OU’s staff to Palo Duro High School senior Austin Johnson’s cell phone or to his mother Kathy’s house in Amarillo. Half of those phone calls lasted longer than a minute. Most came from Hoffman’s cell phone.

• On Aug. 25, Johnson’s cell was called twice. The conversations lasted five and six minutes, respectively.

• In September, there were 13 phone calls made to Leslie and Tony Conti’s home and cell numbers in Seattle. Martell Webster, one of the nation’s top recruits, lives with the Contis. Most came from Sampson’s cell phone.

• Eight of those phone calls to the Contis lasted longer than a minute. The longest was 33 minutes.

• Phone calls from Oklahoma had also been placed to Beulah Walker, Martell’s aunt.

Tony Conti said none of the five schools they dealt with — including Oklahoma — abused the recruiting process.

“I don’t recall an excessive amount of calls from Oklahoma,” he said. “The coaches, they really watch what they do. They don’t want to get in any trouble.”

Conti added, however, many kids enjoy the contact with coaches and relish the attention.

Several programs, including NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed Washington, where Webster has committed, have been on probation for excessive phone calls to recruits, in addition to other, more egregious, violations. Washington’s punishment also included loss of scholarships.

The Oklahoman requested the phone records of the Oklahoma State men’s basketball program Feb. 7. That request has not yet been met.

“I know the request was received,” said Steve Buzzard, an OSU associate athletic director. “I know the information is being compiled and will be provided.”

Ray Lopes, an Oklahoma assistant under Sampson from 1994-2002, resigned the head coaching position at Fresno State last month because of his excessive telephone contacts with recruits. Fresno State, already under probation, is being investigated for Lopes’ violation.

“The rule is one contact per week per prospect,” Lopes told the media at his resignation. “(The violation) involves multiple contacts.”

A source said the Oklahoma Board of Regents was made aware of the NCAA investigation into Sampson’s program when the group met March 22-23.

Sampson’s future with the university was never called into question by the regents, an additional source said.

The process of deciphering if and when violations occurred is likely to be laborious for the NCAA and OU’s compliance staff. It must sift through thousands of phone calls and ascertain when and if a player was contacted.

For example, the Sooners are recruiting several players in Memphis, Tenn. From July 2004 through January 2005, there were upwards of a 100 phone calls logged to several different numbers in Memphis.

Similarly, dozens of phone calls have been made to multiple numbers in Nacogdoches, Texas. Damion James, one of the top recruits for 2006, lives in Nacogdoches. Many calls were to the high school, but it’s impossible to ascertain all parties involved in those calls.

The NCAA’s task is to figure out the particulars of each of those calls and if a rule was broken. No timetable has been placed on a possible resolution to this matter.

[EastStang]

Hopefully, Coach Tubbs doesn't get sucked into this investigation. I could see these guys pointing the finger at him since he isn't there anymore. Given our athletic department rules, past infractions (even with another school) could be grounds for firing a coach.