Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 44

A 1 Colleges Section Page 10 Fort Worth Star-Telegram I Sunday October 29 1995 I MI Alabama tops UNT with second-half rally Rice ground game overcomes SMU vN N7ttlit- 0 --Row4t1 1 i' ifNit 1 3-t i 4 4 elf cliz e'-'---' PS 3 st 10 -Sq Vo woofeett-- 0- 'N i 0 1 't: i i li A isthis tight end Brian Waters said The Tide's Cedric Samuel then returned an interception 15 yards' for a touchdown the fourth of the season for the Tide defense A furn-: ble by North Texas running back Deundray Mason at the Eagles' 19' set up 31-yard field goal as Tide took a 10-7 halftime lead Alabama quickly turned the game around in the second half by scoring on three of its first four possessions The Crimson Tide outgained North Texas 465-274 with 329 of Alabama's yards coming in the second half I "We never thought we'd lose' but we shouldn't have let them think they were in the game" Alabama defensive end Kelvin Moore said "I think the interception got us going and set the intensity for the rest of the game" With the Eagles down 24-7 Gulley engineered a 67-yard scoring' drive capped with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Brian Waters to close the score to 24-13 Fort Worth Star-Telegram I JOYCE MARSHALL Rice quarterback Chad Nelson looks for running room against SMU defenders Jason Evans left and Seth Stinton Rice 34 SMU 24 BY ROGER BROWN Fort Worth Star-Telegram TUSCALOOSA Ala In trying to establish themselves as a legitimate Division I-A football program the North Texas Eagles might have gotten back on track yesterday Despite losing to Alabama 38- 19 before a sold-out Bryant-Denny Stadium crowd of 70123 Eagles players appeared to feel pretty good about the way they performed "We played hard and played the full 60 minutes" said North Texas freshman quarterback Josh Gulley who finished 19-of-37 for 183 yards and one touchdown "I think we earned a lot of respect out there today Even iliough we lost the game we know we made some positive steps in the right direction in laying some building blocks for this program's future" After battling the Crimson Tide (6-2) through a scoreless first quarter the Eagles (1-7) scored first on Jason Mills' 1-yard option keeper with 12:13 to play in the first half Robert Hoffman's extra point gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead against the nation's 18th-ranked team "I know when that score was posted on television around the country some people had to be falling out of their chairs" Eagles The specific point of contention was the final play of the third quarter when Nelson was sacked at his 12 by SMU's Ken Neill with the Mustangs recovering a loose ball Officials ruled the play dead Rice retained possession and Rossley later fumed "I really don't know what they called it" Rossley said "They told the kids on the field it was an incomplete pass and they told us on the sideline that Nelson was down "I can't comment on it We'll have to go look at the film but I think I'll go throw up first" Said linebacker Craig Swann: "It looked like a fumble to me and we had it But it's up to the guys in the striped shirts" The Mustangs were leading 24- 21 at the time But after they failed to kill a punt that rolled into the Rice end zone the Owls launched their winning 80-yard drive When Rice reached third-andsix at the Owls' 47 Nelson flipped 'a pass over the middle that Askew grabbed at the SMU 40 Two Mustangs missed him and Askew rumbled in for the score with Yoncy Edmonds removing Cornell Parker with a block at the 15 Nelson who replaced Josh LaRocca midway through the Texas Tech game last week finished with 120 yards on 30 carries but corn pleted only five passes LaRocca the Owls' passing quarterback is out for the season after foot surgery Rice's running game was responsible for its 21 first-half points but SMU struck back with a 64-yard halfback pass from Kelsey Adams to James Whitmore (five catches 138 yards) and two scoring passes from quarterback Derek Canine (14 of28 189 yards) The second scoring pass was a 24-yard toss to Whitmore who made a falling catch in the end zone to put SMU ahead in the third quarter But then the day began to go badly for the Mustangs and Rice added two late field goals to put the game away Rice SMLI 7 14 0 13-34 3 14 7 0-24 Crosland 44 2 FUJI (Ruff kick) 1 run (Ruff kick) 64 pass from Adams (Crosland kick) 1 run (Ruff kick) 8 pass rom Canine (Crosland kick) (Crosland kick) 53 pass from Neison (Ruff kick) Ruff 37 32 A-11524: Rice SMU First downs 34 24 Rushesyards 75-326 22-53 Passing 82 253 Return Yards 47 66 Comp-An-lm 5-114 15-29-0 Punts 4-37 6-38 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1 Pena lues-Yards 0-00 3-28 Timeof Possession 4052 19:08 Individual statistics Rushing Rice Whitlock 15-71 Nelson 30120 Perry 12-60 Edmonds 6-51 Gingnch 2-5 Newhouse 2-(minus 11 George 6-18 Godfrey 2-2 SMU Womack 13-46 Campbell 2-12 Adams 1-3 Diderson 1-1 Canine 5-lininus-91 Passing Rice Nelson 5-11-0-82 SMU Canine 14-28- 0-189 Adams 1-1-0-64 Receiving Rice Askew 1-53 Venghaus 1-12 Gingrich 1-8 Bridges 1-6 Shaw 1-3 SMU Whitmore 5-138 Dickerson 3-54 Moore 1-8 Johnson 1-(minus-3) Cooper 1-3 Thornal2-18 Robinson 1-14 Womack 1-21 Former 'runner' gives lowdown on agents BY WENDELL BARNHOUSE Fort Worth Star-Telegram The NCAA is getting an inside look at how "runners" operate for sports agents through the cooperation ofJesse Martinez To IPI 83 Da Geee 4 Woe Ciste Valle 18'C 18:1 Gret In Hocl Hodl Hod try 1 131 Katt 8 I Vac( Bed Ti vine Kele 8 a Ill Gra! 15: Dan Wa Mar 15 Virg Vine vile Jr Mar 4 11 MCI Tac Mar 12-1 Erre 69 I( It Berl 11 Jeri Bee lam 8 We Cro ley 114 Rid 12: AO Rid 13: Are Ma Do fie 10 Ma 16: Ca Gui 17: 8 fie sio Ma tm Ma rea 13 Hai 1 51 1 No 11 IN" Pat 18 Do de Pe Vt( sai 12 An Jo Pa Ian sal 13 IC I Te I Over the past year information provided by Martinez has led the NCAA to suspend Ohio State wide receiver Joey Galloway and Arizona basketball guard Damon Stoudamire And based on information supplied by Maninez the NCAA investigated allegations that Southern California wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson (who avoids agents and runners after games thanks to a police escort) and Nebraska's Lawrence Phillips had improper ties with agents The NCAA has cleared both players "Jesse is a pretty credible guy" NCAA investigator Bill Saum said "I think he has his reasons for what he's doing reasons other people might not agree with The information he's provided us might not be to a dotted I and a crossed but in general he's been pretty credible" Martinez declined to be interviewed for this story His attorney Edward King said Martinez went to the NCAA because he became disillusioned helping agents violate rules "He thinks the athletes are being taken advantage of" King said "He used to think the NCAA was the enemy now be thinks the agents are the enemy" According to the NCAA Martinez has turned over evidence on I 0 schools Martinez told the Boston Globe that between 1989-94 he worked for five agents and a financial planner who used him to funnel money and gifts to at least 20 student-athletes at Ohio State Tennessee Southern California Miami Florida Nebraska Texas Baylor Houston and Arizona State BY WHIT CANNING Fort Worth Star-Telegram DALLAS It was nearly an afternoon of frustration for the Rice Owls at the Cotton Bowl yesterday But after rushing 75 times to little avail they finally threw up their hands and passed for the winning touchdown Afterward SMU coach Tom Rossley announced that he was going off to throw up "Well at least we finally get to go home happy from a road trip" Rice defensive end Ndukwe Kalu said after the Owls outlasted SMU 34-24 in a wild Southwest Conference battle Rice (2-5-1 1-3) won on a 53- yard pass from Chad Nelson to tight end Adrayll Askew with 8:47 remaining turning a game that SMU (1-7 0-4) had worked mightily to retrieve It was the Owls' first road win first SWC win and first win of any sort since the first week of the season It was the seventh consecutive defeat for SMU which countered the Rice rushing game (326 yards) with a loni -range air attack (253 yards) ano finished with a surly attitude toward the officiating crew which was serenaded as it departed the field with shouts of "You ought to be arrested!" from segments of the 11524 in attendance Agents From Page 1 picks signed for an average of $12 million including bonuses and agents normally collect a 4 percent fee on pro contracts Chicago-based agent Steve Zucker for instance made $750000 on the $18 million seven-year contract he secured for Washington Redskins receiver Michael Westbrook the fourth player selected It isn't only first-round picks who are wooed however Scouts rate Davis the Southwest Conference's leading rusher as a late-round pick or undrafted free agent because of his lack of speed Southern California junior running back Shawn Walters from Arlington Lamar also a marginal NFL prospect has been suspended since Sept 28 because of allegalions he accepted 16000 from agent Robert Troy Caron Two other Trojans also missed games amid reports they received gifts from Caron Nebraska junior running back Lawrence Phillips was reinstated to the team last week after a six-week suspension he received for physically attacking his girl friend He told an Omaha radio station that agents called him during his suspension and promised S100000 if he would leave school and sign a contract In August Alabama's football program was placed on NCAA probation for the first time because of problems stemming from Antonio Langham signing with an agent while he was eligible ach Thomas is as wary of a ringing telephone as he is of a blind-side crack-back block Despite his selection to several preseason All-America teams the Texas Tech middle linebacker doesn't believe he'll be a first-round draft pick But that doesn't keep the people who want to be his agent from calling "As soon as I got recognized an an All-American they started coming after me" he said "As soon as you answer the phone they act like they've talked to you about 30 times They get to talldng They all say how much money they've made for guys who they represent "You get the feeling that they're trying to trap you telling you how much money they've given to other people" NCAA president Gene Corrigan said: "Controlling access of agents to players is a tremendously difficult problem This is an issue that's creating an enormous amount of anguish and worry in our institutions" In many cases agents hire runners liaisons who are trying to get their ant from a future pro contract by connecting agents with stu Who's responsible? "That was huge" Eagles coach Matt Simon said "It showed me something Our kids played hard and I knew they would "I think our offense started to come of age We went from some-' thing like elementary math to calculus" Summary 9B one recent occasion legal action Many try to educate their student-athletes about the agent game 125 schools have NCAAapproved career counseling panels that advise athletes And some schools set up workshops where agents meet with students in a supervised setting During spring practice Texaskv sets aside time for agents to meet with seniors-to-be "We try to disseminate information about agents and be a buffer between the agents and the ath- letes" said John Thornton Texas assistant athletic director for student services and chair of the school's career counseling panel The family of Texas junior running back Leeland McElroy has told him to refer calls from agents or runners to his older brother Lee who is athletic director at Cal State-Sacramento "Leeland hasn't been bothered too much by these people because I think the word has gotten through the network" Lee McElroy said "We're making it clear that anyone who attompts to contact him without going through the appropriate channels we will prosecute" Southern Cal didn't hesitate to take legal action A week after suspending Walters linebacker Ertick Herrin and defensive end Israel Ifeanyi the school filed suit against Caron charging that he induced athletes to violate NCAA regulations The suit was settled out of court with Caron paying the school $50000 "We wanted to provide some downside for the agents" USC general counsel Robert Lane said "Usually the agents would walk away and leave the university and the athlete with the downside" King supports such legal action as a way to throw some of the profit motive back at the problem "If Florida State goes on probation over the Foot Locker shopping spree then I think the school should sue the agents that were involved" said King who has been consulting with the NCAA on the agent-athlete issue for the past eight years "I think some lawsuits against some of these agents would get their attention real quick" Pigg defends title in Tim triathlon The Associated Press BANGKOIC Thailand Defending champion Mike Pigg swam biked and ran to victory yesterday in the Thai Airways International Laguna Triathlon on the resort island of Phuket The American had a time of 2 hours 28 minutes Greg Welch of Australia was second two minutes back and three minutes ahead of American Wes Hobson More 'than 400 triathetes from 20 countries took part in the event dent-athletes to make first contact with a potential client Runners are usually young ex-athletes who blend in on a college campus They allow an agent to avoid direct contact with a player and provide an easy conduit to forward cash and gifts to a player "They provide cash they wire money they provide beepers cellular telephones they wire cash they take 'em to out to eat" an NCAA investigator said "If they provide 'em cars it's usually older cars that might not draw as much attention as newer cars" Malcolm McInnis director of compliance at Tennessee said using a runner keeps an agent from getting caught "As an agent you don't even have to physically be in the state" he said "You say be on the look for agents but what if they never leave their offices in New York or Los Angeles The runner theoretically could be anybody He could be not doing it today and start tomorrow and then not doing it the next day They don't wear a sign or wear black hats" Last season Texas offensive tackle Blake Brockermeyer of Fe Worth who made himself eligible for the NFL draft before his senior was walking off the practice field when he was approached by a runner who invited Brockermeyer to dinner so he could meet an agent "It's like being recruited all over again but it's more intense" said Kae Brockermeyer Blake's father who collected 16 boxes of letters and brochures sent by prospective agents "Blake probably didn't have as many problems with the agents because they knew his daddy was an attorney" Some runners obtain players' class schedules find out when they lift weights meet them at their favorite night clubs Or they get close to the players' families or friends or even pay other students to approach the athletes "They act like they know so much about you" Thomas said 'This is your address this is your the states that have these laws" said Ron Maestri chairman of the NCAA's Sports Liaison Committee "We talked with some people from the attorney-general offices in those states and they're underfunded It's not like they have a whole department and staff that can track down leads and investigate tips on agents" Recently the Texas Legislature toughened the law by granting subpoena power in order to obtain evidence to help enforce the agent law Texas law requires agents to register with the Secretary of State's office pay a $100 annual fee and post a 100000 bond if the agent handles an athlete's finances A violation is a civil penalty with a fine up to $25000 "What Texas requires is that an athlete-agent must register with our office before he can contact a football or basketball student-athlete who is eligible to compete at a state college or university" said Guy Joyner of the secretary of state's office "But as with any law enforcement it comes down to discovering the violation and then gathering proof" Some college officials say the NFL and NBA players unions have the power to control agents but seemingly choose to ignore the problem To represent players agents must be certified with the players' unions the NFL association has about 600 registered agents and the NBA association 315 However neither union has punished an agent in this decade for paying a college player "The players associations could have a major impact on this" said former Baylor coach Grant Teat executive director of the American Football Coaches Association "They could decertify agents but they've got legal considerations to deal with and I've been told they don't want to cross agents that are representing their members It's a mess" So individual universities are left to protect their athletes through education and on at least Instances of agents becoming illegally involved with college athletes continue to mushroom as salaries soar in the professional ranks leading to fierce competition among agents for collegiate talent HYowever there is little agreement on how to solve the problem Here's a look at what some of the concerned parties suggest: NCAA The NCAA can punish an athlete who signs with an agent as well as the school if it doesn't cooperate in the investigation But the NCAA has no control over agents The NCAA would like to see the NFL and NBA ban agents who violate rules It would also like to see more states pass legislation to regulate agents and tougher enforcement of current laws Coaches Most coaches bemoan the lack of control they have over their players' contact with agents and how the agents go unpunished However agents and NCA A enforcement officials say coaches often ignore obvious warning signs flashy cars new clothes that might indicate a player is dealing with an agent Schools Colleges and universities have little power to keep agents from their athletes If they can prove to the NCA A they were not involved the schools rarely are punished with sanctions but losing a top player or players can cost a team competitively which can cost the school financially More and more athletic directors are talking about the need to file lawsuits seeking damages against agents who give parents' address this is your time in the 40 the last time you ran this is how much you bench press' "The thing is man is they're not even supposed to be calling us I don't see how they get our numbers Mine's not listed I screen my calls now I'm trying to just stay away from 'em" With the NCAA following leads furnished by Martinez there is a red alert in athletic departments nationwide "When you hear something like this even at other schools a chill inducements to or sign players who are still eligible Athletes Some athletes say it is hypocritical that they get little more than tuition and fees while their schools make millions of dollars from bowl games and NCA A tournaments Giving scholarship athletes a monthly stipend might lessen the temptation of making a quick deal with an agent Pro unions The NFL and NBA players associations certify agents but the requirements are minimal Neither group has shown any interest in antagonizing the agents that represent their membership Agents Most agents say college's "amateur athlete" system is corrupt Student-athletes are not naive to how that system works they say and are often out looking for extra benefits Most agents receive around 4 percent of a player's professional contract With signing bonuses in the millions for rookies the competition is fierce to secure the services of college players often before they have declared their intention to turn pro Government There are 22 states with laws regarding sports agents Enforcing those laws requires money and manpower that most states don't have And the penalties for violating those laws are little more than a slap on the wrist There are no federal laws that deal with sports agents WENDELL BARNHOUSE runs down the spine ofany administrator" said Chris Plonsky assistant athletic director at Texas "It's: 'How in the hell could this Well clearly you're not with the players 24 hours a day" rr exas is one of 22 states with laws dealing with sports agents But a law on the books doesn't translate to catching crooks Limited funding prevents a concerted effort to enforce every law "This is not a high priority for Aa Ah Al Al All Au Au Bal ccBei Bro Der Bur Co Cro Der Del EP EPE EP 1 EPP EP ErIB Fect We Wy Roe Foci Ft a Gale Gari Hari Hay IHun'6311.