Following is the text of the actual allegations contained in the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations to the President of the University of New Mexico, dated September 6, 2007. The names of certain individuals and information that would identify particular individuals have been omitted from the text in places where [****] appears.
NOTICE OF ALLEGATIONS
to the
President of the University of New Mexico
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[NCAA Bylaws 13.2.1 and 16.11.2.1]
It is alleged that during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 academic years, then [****] and [****] provided several improper benefits to then prospective student-athletes [****], [****], [****] and [****] and then student-athlete [****]. The benefits were related to the young men’s enrollment in correspondence courses through Fresno Pacific University (Fresno Pacific). Specifically:
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Concerning [****], during the spring of 2004, in an effort to assist the young man in obtaining his associate of arts degree from Scottsdale Community College (Scottsdale, Arizona), [****] and [****] arranged for [****] enrollment in and receipt of credit for Elementary Statistics (MAT 1265), a correspondence course at Fresno Pacific. [****] informed [****] that he needed additional math credit in order to obtain his associate’s degree and that [****] knew of a math course from Fresno Pacific that would satisfy the requirement. [****] and/or [****] subsequently telephoned Fern Zahlen, the course instructor, and enrolled [****]. For registration purposes, [****] and/or [****] provided [****] address as that of [****] brother’s home in [****], and his telephone number as one with a California area code. [****] never received or completed any course assignments but received credit for the course. [Note: This allegation partly forms the basis of [****] and [****] unethical-conduct allegations, as outlined in Allegation Nos. 2-b and 3-b, respectively.] [NCAA Bylaw 13.2.1]
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Concerning [****], during the spring of 2004, in an effort to assist the young man in obtaining his associate of arts degree from Trinity Valley Community College (Athens, Texas), [****] and [****] arranged for [****] enrollment in and receipt of credit for Elementary Statistics (MAT 1265), a correspondence course at Fresno Pacific. [****] informed [****] that he needed additional math credit in order to obtain his associate’s degree and that [****] knew of a math course from Fresno Pacific that would satisfy the requirement. [****] and/or [****] subsequently telephoned Zahlen and enrolled [****]. For registration purposes, [****] and/or [****] [****] provided [****] address as that of [****] brother’s home in [****], and his telephone number as that of [****] football office extension. [****] never received or completed any course assignments but received credit for the course. [Note: This allegation partly forms the basis of [****] and [****] unethical-conduct allegation, as outlined in Allegation Nos. 2-b and 3-b, respectively.] [NCAA Bylaw 13.2.1]
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Concerning [****], during the spring of 2004, in an effort to assist the young man in obtaining his associate of arts degree from Northwest Mississippi Community College (Senatobia, Mississippi), [***] arranged for [****] enrollment in and receipt of credit for Advanced Composition and Research (LEN 1120), a correspondence course at Fresno Pacific. [****] primary recruiting coach, [****], informed [****] that he needed English and math credits in order to obtain his associate’s degree and that [****] knew of correspondence courses that would satisfy the requirements. [****] subsequently telephoned [****] to obtain payment information for his enrollment in Advanced Composition and Research at Fresno Pacific. [****] then called Zahlen and enrolled [****]. For registration purposes, [****] provided [****] address as that of [****] brother’s home in [****], and his telephone number as that of [****] university-issued mobile phone. [****] never received or completed any course assignments but received credit for the course. [Note: This allegation partly forms the basis of [****] unethical-conduct allegation, as outlined in Allegation No. 3-b.] [NCAA Bylaw 13.2.1]
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Concerning [****], during the fall of 2005, in an effort to assist the young man in obtaining his associate of arts degree from Scottsdale Community College (Scottsdale, Arizona), [****] and [****] arranged for [****] enrollment in and receipt of credit for Elementary Statistics (MAT 1265), a correspondence course at Fresno Pacific. Additionally, [****] offered to pay [****] enrollment in the course. [****] informed [****] that he needed additional math credit in order to obtain his associate’s degree and that [****] knew of a math course from Fresno Pacific that would satisfy the requirement. [****] also offered to assist [****] in paying for the course. [****] and/or [****] subsequently telephoned Zahlen and enrolled [****]. For registration purposes, [****] and/or [****] provided [****] address as that of [****] brother’s home in [****], and [****] telephone number was listed as that of Zalen’s husband’s mobile telephone. Following the October 2005 registration, [****] never received or completed any course assignments but received credit for the course. [Note: This allegation partly forms the basis of [****] and [****] unethical-conduct allegations, as outlined in Allegation Nos. 2-b and 3-b, respectively.] [NCAA Bylaw 13.2.1]
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Concerning [****] during the spring of 2004, [****] arranged for the young man’s enrollment in, receipt of course materials for and submission of at least two assignments for English Composition (LEN 1099), a correspondence course through Fresno Pacific. [****] telephoned Zahlen and enrolled [****], at which time he provided his [****], university-issued mobile telephone number as [****] home telephone number. Zahlen subsequently faxed [****] the course syllabus for LEN 1099 and the list of course assignments to give [****]. [****] then faxed the syllabus to a then athletic academic advisor. Under the direction of the academic advisor, [****] completed the English assignments. On May 6, 2004, the academic advisor faxed one of [****] completed lessons to Zahlen; and on May 11, 2004, he faxed another of [****] completed lessons to Zahlen. [NCAA Bylaws 16.11.2.1]
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[NCAA Bylaws 10.01.1, 10.1, 10.1-(b), 10.1-(c) and 10.1-(d)]
It is alleged that former assistant football coach [****] failed to deport himself in accordance with the honesty and integrity normally associated with the administration of intercollegiate athletics as required by NCAA legislation for (a) his knowing involvement in registering then prospective student-athletes [****],[****] and [****] in Fresno Pacific University (Fresno Pacific) correspondence courses and offering to pay for [****] course, as detailed in Allegation No. 1, (b) his involvement in arranging fraudulent academic credit for [****],[****] and [****]; as detailed in Allegation No. 1; (c) obstructing the enforcement staff’s investigation by speaking with other witnesses about matters relevant to the investigation; and (4) his provision of false and misleading information to the institution and enforcement staff concerning his involvement in and knowledge of possible NCAA violations.
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Regarding his involvement, [****] knowingly violated NCAA legislation, as set forth in Allegation Nos. 1-a, 1-b and 1-d of this notice. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01.1 and 10.1-(c)]
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Regarding his arrangement for fraudulent academic credit for [****], [****] and [****], each young man reported that they were told by [****] that they would receive credit for the Fresno Pacific course without having to complete any work and as long as they provided a form of payment. Once the young men provided payment, they never heard anything about the course until they received credit. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01.1 and 10.1-(b)]
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Regarding his obstruction of the investigation, during his July 14, 2006, interview with the enforcement staff, [****] was notified that he should not discuss the matters reviewed during his interview with anyone else. Nonetheless, later that day, [****] was contacted by head football coach Rocky Long, and [****] informed Long that the enforcement staff had interviewed him regarding Fresno Pacific. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01.1 and 10.1]
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Regarding his provision of false and misleading information, [****] provided the information to the enforcement staff on several occasions. Specifically:
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During his July 13, 2006, and February 23, 2007, interviews with the enforcement staff, [****] denied that he registered or had any knowledge of other coaches registering prospective student-athletes in Fresno Pacific correspondence courses when, in fact, [****] registered or assisted then [****] in registering [****],[****] and [****] for their Fresno Pacific courses. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01 and 10.1-(d)]
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During his February 23, 2007, interview with the enforcement staff, [****] reported that he had never communicated with any Fresno Pacific instructors when, in fact, he placed at least 17 telephone calls to Fresno Pacific instructor Fern Zahlen’s home between February 2004 and January 2006, six of which were at least three minutes in length. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01 and 10.1-(d)]
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[NCAA Bylaws 10.01.1, 10.1-(b), 10.1-(c) and 10.1-(d)]
It is alleged that former [****] failed to deport himself in accordance with the honesty and integrity normally associated with the administration of intercollegiate athletics as required by NCAA legislation for (a) his knowing involvement in registering then prospective student-athletes [****],[****],[****] and [****], and then student-athlete [****] in Fresno Pacific University (Fresno Pacific) correspondence courses and coordinating [****] receipt of course materials and submission of assignments as detailed in Allegation No.1; (b) his involvement in arranging fraudulent academic credit for [****],[****] and [****], as detailed in Allegation No. 1; and (c) his provision of false and misleading information to the institution and enforcement staff concerning his involvement in and knowledge of possible NCAA violations.
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Regarding his involvement, [****] knowingly violated NCAA legislation, as set forth in Allegation No. 1. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01.1 and 10.1-(c)]
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Regarding his arrangement for fraudulent academic credit for [****], [****],[****] and [****], each young man reported that despite that he did not register for the course or receive or complete any assignments, he received credit. According to the course registration forms for [****],[****],[****] and [****], their home addresses, where the course instructor reported that the course materials were sent, were listed as that of [****] brother’s house in [****], as set forth in Allegation No. 1. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01.1 and 10.1-(b)]
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Regarding his provision of false and misleading information, [****] provided several false and misleading statements to the enforcement staff and institution during his interview on February 21, 2007. Specifically:
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[****] denied having any involvement in suggesting Fresno Pacific courses to prospects or student-athletes when, in fact he suggested Fresno Pacific courses to [****] and [****]. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01 and 10.1-(d)]
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[****] denied that he registered or any knowledge of other coaches registering prospective student-athletes in Fresno Pacific correspondence courses when, in fact, [****] registered or assisted in the registration of prospects [****],[****],[****] and [****] and then student-athlete [****] for Fresno Pacific courses. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01 and 10.1-(d)]
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[****] denied having any contact with professors of courses being taken by junior college prospects when, in fact, [****] telephoned Fern Zahlen, the Fresno Pacific course instructor who taught each of the courses taken by the young men identified in Allegation No. 1, in order to register them for their Fresno Pacific courses. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01 and 10.1-(d)]
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[****] reported that he knew Zahlen and spoke with her once or twice per year when, in fact, [****] spoke with Zahlen at least once per month and on some occasions multiple times per month. According to his cell telephone records, [****] placed at least 82 calls to Zahlen’s home phone between January 2004 and June 2006, 24 of which were at least three minutes in length. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01 and 10.1-(d)]
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[NCAA Bylaws 10.01.1, 10.1 and 10.1-(d)]
It is alleged that [****] failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standards of honesty and sportsmanship normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics for (a) obstructing the institution’s and enforcement staff’s investigation by speaking with a witness about matters relevant to the investigation, and (b) providing false and misleading information to the institution and enforcement staff. Specifically:
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Regarding his obstruction of the investigation, during his July 14, 2006, interview with the institution and enforcement staff, [****] was instructed not to discuss the matters about which he was questioned with any other members of the football coaching staff. Nonetheless, following his interview, [****] initiated a conversation with then [****] and informed him that the enforcement staff would be interviewing [****] concerning information that [****] was involved with former prospective student athlete [****] correspondence courses. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01.1 and 10.1]
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Regarding [****] provision of false and misleading information, during his July 14, 2006, interview with the institution and enforcement staff, he reported that he had no knowledge of [****] enrollment in a Fresno Pacific University (Fresno Pacific) course and had heard of Fresno Pacific from an ESPN news story only a couple of months prior to the interview when, in fact, he referred [****] to [****] for [****] to enroll the young man in a Fresno Pacific correspondence course in 2004, as noted in Allegation No. 1-C. [NCAA Bylaws 10.01 and 10.1-(d)]
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9/14/2007 9:00 AM
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