By Heather Kamins
Daily Staff Reporter
University President Lee Bollinger is scheduled to announce Sept. 8 the results of an investigation into numerous allegations made against the men's basketball team.
In the beginning of March, through a seven-month joint investigation with the Big Ten conference, the University discovered that the basketball program had committed two minor NCAA violations through contact with Detroit-area basketball booster Ed Martin.
The acknowledgement of the violations set off a chain reaction in the press, leading to an onslaught of allegations of impropriety against the team.
In response to the allegations, President Lee Bollinger hired the Kansas-based law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King, which specializes in NCAA infractions and compliance. The firm will investigate the claims and present a complete report to the University.
"Any time there is a credible allegation, we will investigate it," Bollinger said. "We have to have a goal of no violations. We cannot have a policy of no minor violations. We should be scrupulous and energetic in investigating any plausible allegations."
Sources say the firm has had difficulty investigating the validity of the claims because many allegations came from unnamed sources who have refused to publicly come forward.
Michigan guard Travis Conlan said the recent controversies surrounding the program have been hard on the team, but the players mitigate the pressure by sticking together.
"Our team morale wasn't hurt," Conlan said. "I think we've grown close with all the troubles. We're a family. When you have troubles in a family, you grow closer."
Two confirmed NCAA violations were detected during an investigation into events surrounding an automobile accident in February 1996, when a Ford Explorer - carrying several Michigan players and a potential recruit - driven by former Michigan forward Maurice Taylor ,rolled over and crashed. Questions about how Taylor came to possess the vehicle highlighted problems regarding Martin's involvement with Michigan players.
Martin was described in a report released by the University as "someone who derives some sort of satisfaction from forming close ties with highly talented athletes." Martin was present at the home of a current Michigan player during a recruiting visit with Michigan coach Steve Fisher. Team members identified the player as Michigan center Robert Traylor.
The other violation occurred when Martin presented a player with a birthday cake.
These incidents are classified as NCAA infractions because, although the University did not sanction these interactions, Martin is considered as "a non-traditional representative of the University's ... athletic interests."
Martin also attempted to provide players and their families with more sizable benefits, including the payment of security deposits on several players' apartments and the purchase of airline tickets.
When Fisher received knowledge of these transactions, he prevented them from occurring and avoided the accumulation of further violations.
Roberson originally criticized the coaching staff for not immediately reporting these incidents to the University's administration.
"While we are pleased that our system was able to prevent major violations from occurring, we are disappointed that the internal disciplines and reporting procedures did not result in these activities coming to our attention by an appropriate reporting process," Roberson said on the day of the report's release.
The following day Roberson and University President Lee Bollinger released a statement reaffirming their support of Fisher and crediting him with preventing further violations.
Rumors and allegations
Allegations appeared in the media just days after the initial violations were announced. Two unnamed sources alleged in local newspapers that Martin often gave improper cash and monetary gifts to players by channeling the funds through girlfriends and placing cash envelopes in cake boxes.
Further suspicions arose after the Athletic Department announced that it planned to conduct a standard investigation into how Traylor obtained an automobile, which was leased by his aunt, Lydia Johnson, in February, because of his relationship with Martin.
Johnson, a Detroit steel company machine operator, leased the eight-passenger vehicle, equipped with a television and two stereos. Lease payments on the vehicle reportedly exceed $700 per month. Traylor responded to allegations that he may have improperly obtained the $47,906 customized Chevrolet Suburban.
"The lease of the new car in question by my aunt was made entirely by her," Traylor said in a press release. "She works two jobs, has great credit, and selected the car for both of us to drive. It is her money, and she should be able to spend her money as she wishes. We have done nothing wrong."
The most significant charges allege that former Michigan basketball stars Chris Webber and Maurice Taylor accepted more than $100,000 from Martin.
If such allegations are proved to be true the consequences for the team could be drastic.
Webber, who left the University after his sophomore year in 1993 and currently plays for the Washington Wizards, first encountered Martin when he was in junior high. Martin was often seen attending Webber's high school games at Birmingham's Detroit Country Day. The newspaper reported that Webber received financial support from Martin during his college career. Allegedly, Martin expected Webber to pay the money back, with interest, after he turned pro. Webber, according to the newspaper's sources, did not realize he would have to pay the money back. Webber repaid Martin, but apparently Martin was displeased with the amount of money he received.
After his experience, Webber warned Taylor to stay away from Martin, the newspaper reported. But Taylor did not heed Webber's warning, and therefore will also be expected to pay Martin back with interest, if he did indeed take the payments.
The newspaper also reported that the University's investigation into the basketball program has revealed that Martin's name was listed on Webber's college apartment lease.
A mysterious booster
In April, further information regarding the night that first ignited controversy came to light and amplified suspicions of the program. The five Michigan basketball players who were in Taylor's car as it flipped allegedly entertained Cleaves at an all-night hotel party that may have included strippers, alcohol and illegal drug use just hours before the accident.
The report released by the University also shows that the players stopped at Martin's home before the party so he could meet Cleaves.
Examination of the Michigan basketball team's complimentary ticket lists show that Martin may have acted as a recruiter for the team.
Fisher is quoted in the University's report 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 recruit Willie Mitchell be seated with 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 was not initialed by anyone, but the full list of tickets for that day was signed by Fisher.
In an interview with investigators, Fisher said that he did not believe Martin was harmful to the basketball program, and therefore he did not ban Martin's contact with the program.
"I would not have viewed him as a threat to the integrity or honesty of Michigan or our program," Fisher said, according to formerly unreleased transcripts obtained by The Michigan Daily under the Freedom of Information Act.
Throughout the transcripts Martin's name has been deleted but in an interview with The Detroit News, Martin confirmed that the comments refer to him.
Even after discovering that Martin had been the instigator of two NCAA violations the team incurred, Fisher maintained that Martin was not damaging to the program.
"I didn't think that this was a guy that was detrimental," Fisher told investigators. "But we were with him like we were with a lot of people ... if you don't network and network with a lot of people, you can find yourself never being able to recruit certain areas."
The relationship between Martin, the Michigan basketball program and its coaching staff has been the major focus of a current University investigation into allegations made against the program.
Fisher adamantly defended his ethics in all dealings with Martin.
"If there's one thing I take great pride in and I have said this before, ... my integrity, Fisher first, my family and a close second to this University and what it represents," Fisher told investigators. "I have bent over backwards to handle myself in situations in a way, that I would be beyond reproach on that."
09-03-97
should be sent to: daily.letters@umich.edu | should be sent to: online.daily@umich.edu |