Thursday, January 22, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 3
NCAA deal for Earl not so sweet
Recovering lost playing time not admirable option
By MIKE VACCARO The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas' Lester Earl is as good as he was advertised to be. He is strong. He is athletic. He has wonderful basketball instincts that belle his age. Against Kansas State on Saturday, he hammered home a two-fisted dunk that nearly drilled a hole in James Naismith Court. You cannot teach that. You either have the goods to do that, or you do not.
Lester Earl has the goods In more ways than one.
Tuesday, the NCAA alleged that during Earl's brief stay at Louisiana State University, where he played during the first semester of the 1996-97 season, he received money and other improper benefits from the LSU coaching staff.
Earl apparently has cooperated with the NCAA. In return for providing information about his old school and his old coach, Dale
Commentary
Brown, Earl could regain the year of eligibility he forfeited when LSU would not release him from his scholarship last winter.
If the NCAA proves its allegations, Earl's LSU scholarship would be invalidated. So would LSU's ability to prevent him from seeking release from that agreement. In a flash, he becomes a sophomore instead of a junior.
He will have discovered the Fountain of Youth through the fine art of deal making. Perfect.
"If we can prove a case, we're expected to process it," said David Berst, the NCAA's assistant executive director for enforcement. "But when we don't think we can, we try to seek assistance from people who would be in jeopardy if we could figure out the truth. If those individuals are willing to give us the information, we agree not to pursue."
So, in essence, Earl will be rewarded prominently for dropping dimes on LSU, Brown and Brown's staff, for taking part in a variety of past transgressions. And these were beauties.
Earl reportedly received $6,600
the school.
In essence, Earl was a partner in a bold and blatant flouting of NCAA rules. What kind of message does this send? If this is all true ... he is just as culpable as
from an LSU assistant. His family is said to have gotten jobs through Brown's staff, in addition to free meals in Baton Rouge, La. Earl's mother allegedly received free legal services.
In essence, Earl was a partner in a bold and blatant flouting of NCAA rules.
What kind of message does this send?
If this is all true, and if Earl dio indeed tell NCAA investigators of LSU's ruse, he is just as culpable as the school. More so, in fact. Spare me the naive, wide-eyed, innocent 18-year-old kid routine. Any athlete with the high school reputation Earl enjoyed has heard the same speeches a hundred times at summer camps, has been warned a hundred times by coaches and counselors of what is allowed and what is not.
If Earl got paid, he had to know, in his heart if nowhere else, that he was doing something wrong. Period.
If the NCAA wants to reward Earl for his assistance, wants to give him what the organization calls limited immunity, then this is what his reward should be. He keeps whatever eligibility he has left. If that is only three semesters, then it is only three semesters. But first, he repays whatever money he was given. And he is put on notice that another hint of wrong-doing the rest of his career, he goes. For good.
That is fair. You know what is not fair? Jacque Vaughn could not get a refund for the games he lost to wrist surgery last year. Nobody is going to restore the nine games Raef LaFrentz forfeited to the broken bone in his right hand this winter. No amount of deal making can make up for their fractured senior years.
If Lester Earl said what he is supposed to have said, if he did what he is supposed to have done, he should feel lucky to still have what remains of his career.
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