Examination of the Michigan basketball team's complimentary ticket lists show that Detroit booster Ed Martin may have acted as a recruiter for the team.
In a March investigation of the basketball program, Michigan Coach Steve Fisher is quoted as saying he "never used (Martin) as a representative of our athletic interest in any way," and that his relationship with Martin was "casual, friendly but distant."
In addition to being a season ticket holder, the list shows that Martin received 30 complimentary tickets from the 1990-91 season to the present. On eight occasions, the tickets were given written authorization by Fisher.
For one game in 1994, a hand-written note on the cover of the complimentary ticket list asks that recruitee Willie Mitchell be seated with then-mayoral candidate Dennis Archer and Martin.
Mitchell, who had been named that year's Mr. Basketball for the state of Michigan, was a heavily recruited high school prospect for the University.
The message states, "Jan - please put Willie Mitchell, Dennis Archer, Ed Martin together, 3-4 rows up."
The message was not initialed by anyone, but the full list of tickets for that day was signed by Fisher.
"If you are trying to recruit a student, it's certainly understandable you'd want to impress the candidate," said Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison.
In recent weeks, the basketball program has come under fire after allegations surfaced that members of the team may have accepted monetary payments from Martin. As a result of the allegations, the University hired the law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King, a Kansas-based group that specializes in NCAA infractions and compliance, to investigate all credible accusations.
Harrison said the ticket lists have been given to the firm.
"These are lists we had first looked at in our investigation, and now we have given them to the law firm to look at," Harrison said. "I think we would all admit that back in the early '90s, we had a looser system (of regulating complimentary tickets) and now we are tightening it."
Lists also show that former Michigan player Jalen Rose received a disproportionate number of complimentary tickets for the 1993-94 season, and on several occasions he gave the tickets to the same men who were caught with him in a drug raid a year earlier, where marijuana and cocaine were discovered. On at least one occasion, the three men were seated together.
Keith Molin, senior associate athletic director, said he was unable to comment on specific questions about the lists.
"I have never heard anything about this until a couple of days ago," Molin said. "I really can't comment on this. I can tell you the law firm will be handling it."
Archer was the most frequent recipient of the complimentary tickets, receiving tickets 42 times for himself and on 16 occasions for his sons.