NCAA: Ray to miss two more games

Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr announced Friday that Marcus Ray will return to the Wolverines immediately after serving a three-week suspension for improper contact with an agent, but the senior still must sit out two more games to appease the NCAA.

"We are glad this situation is over with," Carr said, "because it has been a distraction, and now we can move forward and try to have the type of football team and season that we would like to have."

Carr's positive attitude toward Ray's reinstatement for practices was tempered by revelations of Ray's wrongdoings.

LOUIS BROWN/Daily Michigan football safety Marcus Ray addresses members of the press Friday at Schembechler Hall concerning his NCAA violations.

The problems stem from Ray's association with sports agent James Gould, whose offices are based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ray got in hot water for his association with Gould during a trip in which he flew from his Columbus, Ohio, home to a jazz festival in Cincinnati this past July.

Two friends of Ray's mother who were on the trip stayed at the Cincinnati Hyatt Regency hotel, but at checkout time were unable to pay for their rooms. Ray then contacted Gould and asked him to pay for the rooms, which he did.

"We have an agent, James Gould out of Cincinnati, Ohio, who knowingly violated NCAA rules," Carr said. "I intend to write the NFL Players Association and ask that they take disciplinary action because Marcus has obviously had his Michigan career impacted by a man who knowingly violated rules."

The women who stayed in the rooms, who refused to be identified in the Athletic Department inquiry, must pay the balance of the rooms, $327.26. Athletic Director Tom Goss said Michigan Compliance Director Derrick Gragg will ensure the women make the payment.

Initially, the Athletic Department did not believe the hotel incident violated NCAA rules because neither Ray nor his mother received any direct benefits from the payment. So in Michigan's initial report, the violation was not outlined. In an addendum, the Athletic Department declared that because the women were friends of Ray's mother, it was a violation of NCAA bylaw 12.3.1.2.

The concert itself was also a point of contention.

Ray obtained tickets to the July 24 concert at Cinergy Field through Star Bank, a Cincinnati bank where Ray borrowed money to obtain an insurance policy. The policy, legal in the eyes of the NCAA, enabled Ray to insure himself against injury.

The two tickets admitted Ray and his mother to the festival and allowed them to sit in the company's skybox. In the eyes of the NCAA, that is considered an "extra benefit" above and beyond what other student-athletes receive.

Because Ray and his mother consumed the food and drink available in the suite, they violated rule 16.02.3 of the NCAA bylaws. Ray will commit restitution for the incident by paying $150 to local Ann Arbor charities.

Ray attended Friday's press conference, but only read a prepared statement.

"This experience has humbled me and I now realize that I have to use good judgment at all times," Ray said. "I want the world to know that I have never had the intent to accept gifts or favors from any professional sports agent or their representatives. I love Michigan, make no mistake about it. I had no intent on embarrassing this program in any way and I apologize for that."

The Athletic Department's initial proposal, submitted to the NCAA on Oct. 2, called for Ray's current three-game suspension to be sufficient punishment. The NCAA did not agree and handed down a larger penalty of two additional games, causing Ray to miss Michigan's contests against Northwestern and Indiana.

Though he has been cleared to return to team activities and practices, Ray's status as a team captain remains up in the air. He began practicing yesterday with his teammates, but Carr said the issues of captainship and his starting role "will remain between the two of us and the team."

While Carr expressed his relief of the situation's closing, referring to it as an "educational experience," his plans to protect the rest of the team from violations have not changed.

"From my own experience I think the best course of action is to educate our students and try to prevent this from happening to our other student-athletes," he said. "We have former players at Michigan who are what they call runners, people who work for agents, and there is no way in this world that we can isolate them because they're right on our campus."

Because former players have access to current student-athletes and the Michigan football facilities, policing such improper action is difficult. Carr said he has spoken to some runners, but that the current athlete is primarily responsible for avoiding the inappropriate contact.

"The thing that student-athletes need to understand is that this can impact their careers," he said. "Agents can impact our program negatively. I think the responsibility has to come back to our ability to better educate these kids to better make proper decisions."

10-12-98