MONDAY,AUGUST 18,2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 17B
Girlfriend alleges Clemons got too much help
She also says former Mizzou standout received money from someone within program
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tutors at the University of Missouri did excessive academic work for Ricky Clemons, the former Tigers' basketball player dropped from the team last month, his ex-girlfriend says.
In an interview with The Kansas City Star, Jessica Bunge also gave further details about her previous allegations that Clemons received money from someone in the university basketball program, and disputed coach Quin Snyder's account of how much clothing the player got from him.
Bunge, a former Missouri student who now goes to school in Chicago, was interviewed there by The Star last Monday. She said she earlier dated that day with an NCAA investigator but would not discuss specifics of that conversation.
him."
In an account of her interview with The Star, which the newspaper published Wednesday, Bunge was quoted as saying of Clemons, "He swore he could get away with anything, and they proved it to
Bunge told The Star about incidents involving what she believed to be excessive academic help to Clemons, a junior college transfer student who averaged 14.2 points per game last season.
She said she once went to the athletic support center to pick up Clemons, and while waiting for him logged on to the Internet at a computer next to one he was seated at.
Bunge said a tutor sitting on the other side of Clemons was typing a paper for him. Clemons, she said, barely paid attention to the tutor, focusing instead on Bunge's Internet surfing.
The tutor, she said, was writing the paper, and would say to Clemons, "You see why I did this?" She said Clemons would "look over and say 'Yeah' and then look right back over at me."
The NCAA allows tutors to type papers for athletes, if the player pays an hourly or per-page rate for the service, according to Bryan Maggard, associate athletic director for academic services at Missouri. But NCAA rules prohibit
tutors from providing original composition, and in past cases of improper typingschools have had to declare players ineligible and apply for reinstatement.
Clemons
"I know
we're not making any comment until our internal investigation is completed," Maggard said. "This will be addressed very seriously."
Bunge said that on another occasion she saw a tutor meet Clemons outside a classroom about 10 minutes before a class began. She said the tutor handed Clemons a completed assignment and that Clemons took it into the class and turned it in.
Clemons was suspended from the team for one game in January after an incident at his apartment involving Bunge, who said he held her there against her will and also choked her. In April, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charged of false imprisonment and third-
"He had suits. He had boxers. He had gym bags. He had a lot of Mizzou apparel, but a lot of it was really nice Brooks Brothers stuff."
Jessica Bunge Clemons' former girlfriend
degree assault. He got a 60-day jail sentence for the false imprisonment count and was suspended from the basketball team for all of next season, but retained his scholarship.
Clemons began serving his time under a work-release arrangement. But after he was injured in an ATV accident near the Columbia home of University of Missouri President Elson Floyd on July4, it was discovered that he was supposed to be back at the halfway house at the time. That led to Clemons being ordered to the Boone County Jail to serve out the rest of his sentence, and to his dismissal from the basketball program.
Clemons remains in the jail at Columbia until later this month. Through his attorney, Wally Bley, he declined The Star's request for an interview Tuesday. But through Bley, he also denied all allegations of cheating and receiving improper benefits, other than those that Snyder acknowledged in court depositions and interviews.
Missouri officials declined to discuss specific allegations Tuesday, saying only that the school's investigation is ongoing.
investigation. "Certainly, we'll get to the bottom of this." Missouri athletics director Mike Alden said.
Snyder has acknowledged he gave Clemons two pairs of shoes and a pair of sweat pants, which he said "probably" will be ruled an NCAA violation.
According to Bunge, Clemons received much more.
She said she once drove to Snyder's house in her GMC Jimmy and that Clemons began bringing out armloads of clothes.
"He took three full loads from his house to my car," she said. "I
have an SUV, and the whole back end was full. He had sweat suits. He had really, really nice dress coats. He had suits. He had boxers. He had gym bags. He had a lot of Mizzou apparel, but a lot of it was really nice Brooks Brothers stuff."
Bunge also said Clemons often would come out of the Hearnes Center, home of the basketball program, with cash, allegations she first made in Boone County prosecutor Kevin Crane's initial investigation into the assault case.
Snyder has denied that Clemons—or any of his players—received funds, and Bunge said she never saw an exchange of money.
"I took him to the Hearnes, and he would come out and have money," she told The Star. "A hundred here, a hundred there. He'd get 50s. He'd get 20s. Anytime he needed money. If he needed money to pay his phone bill, that's where he went."
Bunge said she and Clemons would go to the mall and "he would spend hundreds of dollars on jump suits."
Little League officials seek to quash focus on player eligibility
The Associated Press
After two years of rampant rumors and scandals about player eligibility, Little League officials are hoping to keep the focus on the field at this year's World Series.
in one respect, the organization is already off to a good start.
"Last year, we had 11 lawsuits where we ruled a certain way and a parent or someone went to court to try to keep that ruling from standing. Our record last year was 8-2-1," Little League spokesman Lance Van Auken said. "Our record this year is 1-0 — we've only had one time where someone actually went so far as to file papers in court."
Two years ago, Danny Almonte threw
the first perfect game the series had seen in 44 years, leading the Rolando Paulino Little League of the Bronx, N.Y., to a third-place finish.
Team officials were constantly showing Almonte's birth certificate to combat rumors that he was too old to play Little League.
The Rolando Paulino team was stripped of its third-place finish, and Almonte's perfect game was erased from
League. It was only after the 2001 series ended that Little League officials learned Almonte's father had falsified his son's birth certificate so he could play. Almonte was 14 years old — not 12 — and he lived in the Dominican Republic, nowhere near the Bronx.
the record books.
Harlem had to send representatives back to New York to find the documents that proved their players were eligible. That won't happen this year, because Little League now requires teams carry all documentation with them throughout the international tournament.
Last year, Harlem Little League was dogged by rumors about players living outside the league's boundary lines. Although some players did live outside the district, Little League ultimately determined they met the criteria for residency waivers and that the team was eligible.
Members of the tournament committee were on hand at regional sites to verify each player's eligibility.
This year's field does have story lines that could eclipse past scandals.
my district. "Certainly if you're one of the faithful, if you're following your particular team, this makes you feel that it's a concern that is being addressed," said Bob Javaris, who teaches sports law at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "But to the average person in the public, they don't know about this."
that could compile a list of Matt Keen, of Tallmadge (Ohio) Little League, will try to win a title on the field where his father placed fourth in 1974. Japan's Musashi Fuchu Little League of Tokyo is back three years after a thirdplace finish. And hard-throwing pitchers, like Chandler (Ariz.) National's
Cory Bernard, and heavy hitters, like David Mastro of Naamans Little League of Wilmington, Del., could captivate the fans the same way Almonte did.
Little League has overcome scandals before, first when foreign teams were barred from the World Series in 1975 because of trouble verifying player eligibility, then again in 1993 when a team from the Philippines was forced to forfeit its World Series title for violating residency rules.
Van Auken said the additional scrutiny has paid off.
After reviewing the documents teams brought to the regionals, the organization is "reasonably confident" that all 16 teams are eligible.