Coach testifies in Martin case

DETROIT (AP) - Former Michigan head basketball coach Steve Fisher testified yesterday before a grand jury in the case against former University booster Ed Martin.

Brian Dutcher and Perry Watson, assistants at the school under Fisher, also testified in federal court.

Fisher was coach at Michigan from 1989 to 1997. He was fired in October 1997, two days after a Kansas law firm hired by the University to investigate the basketball program issued a report calling into question Fisher's role in arranging complimentary tickets for Martin.

Martin, a retired Ford Motor Co. electrician, was banned in March 1997 from associating with Michigan athletics after the university and the NCAA began investigating whether he had violated NCAA rules.

He is suspected of giving or loaning large amounts of money to former players while they were enrolled at Michigan, and of receiving special treatment from coaches and athletic department staff members.

0Earlier this summer, the lawyer for Louis Bullock and former Milwaukee Bucks forward Robert Traylor, who both played under Fisher, said they received loans from Martin while they were at Michigan. Traylor and former Michigan player Chris Webber also have appeared before the federal jury investigating Martin.

Fisher is now head coach at San Diego State, and Dutcher is one of his assistants. Watson is now head coach at Detroit Mercy.