This is on the cover of the Huntsville Times today, and is the best explanation yet of exactly what was dropped.
bill evans Hartselle, AL [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------- http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_st andard.xsl?/base/sports/10048689222118464.xml NCAA drops 1 charge against UA, leaves 10 Rulings clear former Tide assistant Williams in Means recruitment 11/04/01 By PAUL GATTIS Times Sports Staff [EMAIL PROTECTED] TUSCALOOSA - The NCAA has dropped one of the 11 major rules violations against the University of Alabama football program and cleared former Crimson Tide assistant Ivy Williams of any wrongdoing in the recruitment of Albert Means. The NCAA also reduced its charge against another former assistant, Ronnie Cottrell, who had been cited in the recruitment of former Tide player Michael Gaines. The rulings came last week in pre-conference hearings with the NCAA enforcement division and were announced by the school Saturday. Williams said at a news conference Saturday morning that he never knew that Means' high school coach in Memphis, Lynn Lang, allegedly wanted money to steer his star player to Alabama until meeting with NCAA investigators in November 2000. ''I told everyone that I had never done anything,'' Williams said. One of the 11 charges against Alabama stated that Williams was guilty of unethical conduct for lying to NCAA investigators about Means' recruitment. That charge has been ''formally withdrawn,'' said Williams' attorney, Keith Belt of Birmingham. That figures to be good news to Alabama, which will stand trial before the Committee of Infractions on Nov. 17 on the 10 remaining charges. Alabama also faces five sec ondary violations that the school itself reported. Williams, named in one of those secondary violations for making improper recruiting visits to Memphis, said he would not contest the charge. Williams was exonerated in the charge that detailed his alleged participation in Lang's solicitation of money. Lang has denied soliciting money. The charge said Williams ''knew that (Lang) was requesting the institution to provide money and a vehicle'' in order for Means to sign with the Tide, according to the NCAA's Letter of Inquiry, which formally notified the university of the allegations against it. Means signed with Alabama in February 2000 and played last season as a freshman. He immediately transferred to the University of Memphis when the alleged scheme was first reported by a Memphis newspaper in January. The NCAA letter in September said a booster offered $115,000 to Lang as an inducement to get Means to sign with Alabama. About three weeks later, Alabama formally disassociated itself from booster Logan Young of Memphis. Young, according to the NCAA, bankrolled the deal with Lang, an accusation Young has denied. Belt, Williams' lawyer, said he learned Wednesday of the NCAA's ruling in a call with NCAA Director of Enforcement Mark Jones and investigator Rich Johanningmeier in a pre-hearing conference. ''Upon review of the evidence, I think the NCAA realized that there was no credible evidence to support those charges,'' Belt said. Williams said he never talked with Lang or Lang's former assistant Milton Kirk during the recruitment of Means. He said he did stick to the ground rules mandated by Lang, which required Lang's presence during any conversation. Williams said that while such a restriction was unusual, it's not unprecedented. ''I didn't deal with the coaches," Williams said. "I recruited the kid, I called the kid, I talked to the kid. I never talked to the coach.'' While the NCAA investigation at Alabama had already begun, the alleged pay-for-play scheme in Memphis first broke in January when The Commercial Appeal detailed Kirk's allegations of Lang seeking money to urge Means to sign with Alabama. In the story, Kirk accused Williams of being involved in the deal. Kirk also said several other college coaches knew what Lang wanted. Last month, Kirk reached a plea-bargain agreement with federal prosecutors in Memphis in exchange for testimony against Lang - who was indicted by a federal grand jury in September on charges of bribery, conspiracy and extortion. Though Kirk was responsible for naming Williams in the scandal, Williams said he harbored no ill feelings. ''You can't blame Milton Kirk,'' Williams said. ''He was telling the story to get himself off a hook. (The media) took it and ran with it. You can't point the finger at Milton. He was trying to help Albert.'' Belt defended his client when Williams was asked how a deal with Lang could be brokered without Williams' knowledge. Belt pointed out that several assistant coaches who recruited Means - including Auburn's Noel Mazzone, Mississippi State's Melvin Smith and Georgia's Leon Perry - stated publicly they didn't know such a deal was on the table. Williams said he plans no legal action against the NCAA. While the charge concerning Cottrell and his recruitment of Gaines remains in place, it has been lessened with the reduction of an unethical conduct charge by the NCAA. That charge resulted from his failure to report to Alabama that he knew Gaines allegedly committed academic fraud in the summer of 1999 when taking the ACT. According to the NCAA, Gaines admitted to Cottrell that another person took the ACT for him. Cottrell denied any knowledge of the fraud in a meeting with university officials on Oct. 7, 1999. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. To unsubscribe from this list just send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a BLANK subject line and the single word "UNSUBSCRIBE" (without the quotes) in the body or visit http://www.RollTideFan.net
