Vols knew of academic fraud, player says in ESPN interview TUSCALOOSA | Former University of Tennessee football player Kenny Smith Jr., whose recruitment by Alabama was a major part of the NCAA infractions case against UA, told ESPN on Thursday that he was not paid $20,000 by former Crimson Tide booster Logan Young, as the NCAA alleged.
Smith acknowledged that he received a $20,000 payment while in high school, but told ESPN that the money came from a booster of North Jackson High School. Smith said that he did not link the payment to any college. UA officials, who disputed the NCAA allegation at its Committee on Infractions hearing in 2001, indicated that the payment to Smith came from R.D. Hicks, a Jackson County businessman. Kenny Smith signed with Alabama in 1996, but did not meet academic requirements for admission to UA. He subsequently signed with Tennessee, where he enrolled in 1997. Smith was not interviewed by the NCAA in its investigation of the UA football program, and has declined numerous media requests for interviews prior to Thursday's appearance on the ESPN "SportsCenter" program. During the interview, Smith also said that Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer pressed him for information on Alabama, while simultaneously failing to act on instances of academic fraud in the UT program. Smith said, in one instance, he turned in a class assignment that was written primarily by a tutor and was told only "not to do it again." "Nothing ever came up about the plagiarism," Smith said. "Nothing was really said about it, done about it or anything and I'd openly admitted to it." Montgomery attorney Tommy Gallion also appeared on the program and repeated his contention that Tennessee received a "quid pro quo" from the NCAA, gaining "a free pass" for NCAA violations in return for Fulmer serving as a confidential source in the Alabama investigation. NCAA spokesman Wally Renfro denied that allegation. "How on earth does anybody believe that you would get away with trying to make a deal with one school?" Renfro told ESPN. "We'd be run out of business immediately if we tried to do that. It's ridiculous." However, the report noted that an investigation into academic fraud at UT was closed on March 20, 2000 -- just 11 days after Fulmer provided "confidential" testimony in the Alabama case. Fulmer had no comment on the story when it aired Thursday. http://www.tidesports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040227/NEWS/402270369 /1011 ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
