Basketball probe nears completion

After multiple delays, the eight-month investigation into alleged improprieties committed by the Michigan men's basketball program may finally come to an end this week.

Following the University's announcement that the program violated two NCAA regulations and several claims that players accepted cash and gifts from Detroit booster Ed Martin, University President Lee Bollinger hired a private law firm to investigate.

Harrison

Kansas-based law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King, which specializes in NCAA infractions and compliance, has been examining the allegations and compiling a report to release to the NCAA and to the public since March.

Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison said he hopes the report will be finished and released within a few days.

"I am wary of promising a date since we have broken so many dates," Harrison said. "Certainly I hope it will be this week."

The report was originally expected to be released at a press conference on Sept. 8. At that time, Bollinger said the report was not yet complete, but that he hoped he could present it within two weeks.

If the report shows that the players' contact with Martin violated NCAA regulations, repercussions could be devastating to the team. The team could be put on probation and banned from post-season games, lose scholarships or be forced to give up television coverage.

Scott Tompsett, an attorney with Bond, Schoeneck & King, said yesterday that the report is close to being finished.

"There were just some additional issues that we were looking into, making sure that we were doing a thorough job," Tompsett said.

Harrison said the month-long delay is a product of the need to investigate new information as it is uncovered.

"I'm sure when the report is released there will be a lot of new material," Harrison said. "That just takes time. It's taking so long because the investigators haven't finished investigating. Lee's words to the firm were 'leave no stone unturned.'

"If they find something they have to look into it," he said. "They are following up on every lead. People will say something and they will have to check that out and talk to six other people."

A February 1996 roll-over accident on M-14, involving four Michigan players and a recruit, set off a chain reaction of allegations and discussions that may culminate with the release of the report.

As University officials conducted a routine investigation into how former Michigan forward Maurice Taylor acquired the car involved in the accident, they discovered that two minor NCAA violations had been incurred during contact with Martin.

Allegations against the team funneled into the media just days after the University released word of the violations. Further examination of the basketball program revealed that Martin had contact with many Michigan players and had been seated with recruits at home games to which he received complimentary tickets.

The most significant charges allege that former Michigan stars and current NBA standouts Taylor and Chris Webber accepted more than $100,000 from Martin.

Sources say the firm has had difficulty investigating the validity of the claims because many allegations came from unnamed sources in newspapers who refused to come forward publicly.

Harrison said the University will announce a press conference to release the report as soon as it is complete.

"We will, at the same time, deliver the report to the NCAA and release it publicly, since this is not only applicable to the NCAA, but also ... to the public who supports us," Harrison said.

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