Newspaper Page Text
TUESDAY
March 4, 2003
Vol. 110, No. 119 | Athens, Georgia
Sprinkles.
High 53 | Low 49 | Wednesday 69
ONLINE: www.redandblack.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
GET YOUR Z’s
>• Missing sleep might
affect students more than
they realize. PAGE 3
COLE ACCUSATIONS
University deals with basketball scrutiny
Students react to Tony
Cole's allegations
dan McLaughlin i the red & black
▲ Jim Harrick Jr. (left) and Jim Harrick react on the sidelines during the
Tennessee game Feb. 8. Both face allegations of NCAA violations from
former University basketball player Tony Cole.
By HILARY HILLIARD
hhilliard@randb.com
The growing scandal
plaguing Georgia’s bas
ketball program has
not stopped Douglas
Borenstein from defend
ing his favorite basketball
coach.
As the junior from
Dunwoody worked out
Monday at the Ramsey
Student Center, he sport
ed a basketball promo
tional shirt given out at
Sunday’s game.
It read “I bleed red and
black.”
“You can tell by my
shirt I’m still a fan,”
Borenstein said. “I’m
going to support the team
because I think Harrick
will be cleared, especially
since Cole decided to wait
until now to come out
with (the accusations.)”
Borenstein isn’t alone.
Several University
students said Monday
they are thinking posi
tively after former basket
ball player Tony Cole
accused head coach Jim
Harrick and assistant
coach Jim Harrick Jr. with
a laundry list of NCAA
violations, ranging from
boosters-funded shop
ping sprees to academic
fraud.
“Among students, the
negative focus isn’t
on Harrick,” said
Lawrenceville senior
Michelle Clower. “It’s on
Cole.”
Clower said students
question Cole’s credibility
as a source because he
seems vengeful.
“I doubt the situation
could have been stopped
because of that history,”
she said.
Clower said she found
Cole’s charges of academ
ic fraud the most serious.
Those accusations
include that Jim Harrick
Jr. passed Cole in a class
he never attended and
arranged for correspon
dence course work to be
completed for him by
another person.
The charges worry
Clower because she said
she thinks that type of
behavior may be rampant
on campus.
“I’ve never seen
evidence of it myself,” she
said. “But I’ve never been
exposed to many athletes.
I’ve heard stories from
reliable sources along
those lines, though.”
Melissa Morello, a
sophomore from
Marietta, agreed.
“I think it kind of
shows that there are
different standards held
in the academic world
and the athletic world,”
she said.
Morello said she was
shocked by the allega
tions against the basket
ball program, and hopes
the situation will be
investigated with full
force.
“I don’t know if it’s
true, but if so, it would
seem like they’re trying
to fulfill the academic
requirements so they can
do what, to them, is most
important: play sports. It
should be the other way
around,” she said.
Brian Smith, a junior
from Dacula, said he is
still rooting for Georgia’s
team — he’ll be at
tonight’s game, he said —
but he takes the academ
ic charges most seriously.
“It’s a slap in the
face to hard-working
students,” Smith said.
“And it also makes me feel
bad for athletes who
aren’t engaged in this
kind of thing because the
charge locks them into
that stereotype.”
Damien ^
Wilkins
fights
through
defenders’
arms as
he gets
fouled
going for
the lay-up
during the
first half
of
Sunday’s
loss to
Kentucky.
The SEC
fight con
tinues
tonight
against
Florida.
COLIN OWENS | The Red & Black
Dogs face Gators in last home game
By BRADLEY HANDWERGER
bhandwerg@randb.com
The 25th-ranked Georgia basketball
team will get a slight reprieve from its off-
the-court scandal when it hosts No. 3
Florida tonight.
With assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr. sus
pended with pay and investigators currently
looking into accusations of NCAA viola
tions, the Bulldogs have the opportunity to
play Florida (24-4, 12-2 SEC), a team that
has won four straight games, including a 96-
63 trouncing of South Carolina.
“Our schedule didn’t do us any favors,”
Georgia head coach Jim Harrick said about
playing No. 2 Kentucky and the Gators
back-to-back. “We’ll use this as a mini-tour
nament weekend.”
Jan. 11, the last time Georgia (17-8, 9-5
SEC) played the Gators, junior guard
Jarvis Hayes battled freshman guard
Anthony Roberson point for point. Hayes
scored 25 points while Roberson had 23
points.
Roberson got the last shot, hitting a 3-
pointer with less than a second left to pro
pel the Gators to a 66-63 victory.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
v. Florida, 9 p.m.
TV/Radio: ESPN/WNGC-FM (106.1)
“He had a magical game,” Harrick said. “I
don’t anticipate seven three’s from him
(this time). He made some great shots, as
Jarvis did.”
Florida head coach Billy Donovan is wary
that the Bulldogs could upset his Gators.
“If we don’t play well, we’re not going to
have a chance to win,” he said. “Hayes and
(Ezra) Williams can score. Certainly
Thomas, the way he played (against
Kentucky), is one of the best centers in the
league.
“We were very fortunate the first time we
played them.”
Tuesday night also will be Senior Night,
with guards Ezra Williams and Richard
Wehunt being honored as the only seniors
on the team.
“I’m gonna be very emotional,” Williams
said. “Georgia has been a large part of my
life.”
Student tickets go on sale at Stegeman
Coliseum, ticket booth No. $, at 7:30 p.m.
URI launches awn
investigation
By BRADLEY HANDWERGER
bhandwerg@randb.com
In the developing scandal surrounding the
Georgia basketball team, the University of
Rhode Island told ESPN on Monday that an
internal investigation was being launched to
determine if any violations occurred when cur
rent Georgia head coach Jim Harrick Sr. and
assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr. coached at
Rhode Island.
“We are currently examining allegations of
NCAA violations involving both coach Harrick
and his son while they were associated with this
university,” a Rhode Island spokeswoman told
ESPN.
In Athens, Athletics Director Vince Dooley
told The Red & Black the suspension of assis
tant basketball coach Jim Harrick Jr. was hand
ed down directly by him.
“I had decided to do that and told Dr. Adams
what I wanted to do and he was in total agree
ment,” Dooley said. “I told (head) coach
Harrick why I was suspending Jimmy. He didn’t
agree, but he understood.”
Dooley said the Western Union receipt for
mer basketball player Tony Cole produced
Thursday night in an ESPN interview aided in
the decision to suspend Harrick Jr.
“This particular one had a document and no
counter-document to that allegation,” Dooley
told The Red & Black Monday.
ESPN reported that Cole said Harrick Jr.
wired $300 to cover a phone bill Cole ran up
while being recruited.
> See COLE, Page 3
A TIME LINE
Thursday, Feb. 27:
>- Former Georgia basketball player Tony Cole tells
ESPN that assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr. violated NCAA
policy several times while Cole played for Georgia. His
charges included that Harrick Jr.:
- gave him an “A” in a course on basketball coaching
he never attended
- arranged for someone to complete correspondence
work in Cole’s place for two courses at a community college
in Illinois
- reimbursed someone $300 for phone calls Cole made
- paid three of Cole’s hotel bills in Athens.
Friday, Feb. 28:
>- Jim Harrick Jr. is suspended with pay by Athletics
Director Vince Dooley, pending an investigation;
>■ Harrick Sr. closes basketball practice to the media for
the first time since his arrival at Georgia
>- Vince Dooley and University President Michael
Adams seek counsel with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and
Ed Tolley, legal adviser to the Athletic Association. Adams
declares a joint-investigation into Cole’s accusations, includ
ing the NCAA, the SEC, University legal affairs executive
director Steve Shewmaker and Tolley.
Sunday, March 2:
> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Cole adds
the following charges:
- Harrick Sr. gave him his credit card to purchase a
28-inch color television from an Athens Circuit City.
- Georgia basketball booster Mike Young gave him up
to $900 in cash, including $300 for a one-day shopping
spree.
- other Georgia basketball players still on the team also
have received benefits that would count as NCAA
violations.
>- The Georgia basketball team loses to Kentucky,
66-74, amidst the allegations.
Monday, March 3
>- ESPN reports that the University of Rhode Island is
investigating Harrick Sr. and Harrick Jr. for possible rules vio
lations when they coached at URI.
Tuition may increase $1,000
By JESSICA LEE REECE
jreece@randb.com
Penny-saving is about to hit
home for University students.
A University analysis of a U.S.
News and World Report study
found the University to be the
cheapest public university by $868.
But that may change.
A $1,000 differential tuition
increase was proposed by the pres
idents of the University, Georgia
Institute of Technology and
Georgia State University.
The increase would raise $22
million in additional revenue.
Administrators are not pointing
at state budget cuts, which have
cost the University more than $40
million.
“It’s not necessarily to offset the
budget cuts,” said Matt Winston,
assistant to the president. “It’s
something we’ve been thinking
about for quite some time.”
The State Board of Regents also
is considering an increase between
$104 and $158 per year.
The two proposals would bring
in-state costs to $2,867 and out-of-
state costs to $6,815.
In his proposal to Board of
Regents Chancellor Tom Meredith,
Adams points to enrollment num
bers that continue to rise as bud
gets fall.
Currently,
state funds
make up 37 per
cent of the
University’s
total revenue.
TheUniversity
supplements the
difference with
tuition and
fees, private
donations and
research grants.
Administrators justified the
increase, pointing to the quality of
education at the state’s top univer
sities.
“The state of Georgia has built
extraordinary quality into all of
its institutions, particularly the
research institutions,” Meredith
said. “I don’t want the quality of
these institutions diminished.”
The presidents of the universi
ties said they did not know if
the HOPE Scholarship would be
affected.
University student Amanda
Jordan said she would be unhappy
if HOPE did not cover any changes.
“Since HOPE was a big part of
the decision why I came to the
school it doesn’t make me a very
happy camper,” said the junior
from Suwanee. “If (HOPE) doesn’t
cover it, I’ll definitely have some
monetary issues I haven’t prepared
for.”
Administrators have discussed
the possibility of creating more
need-based scholarships.
“HOPE is great, but a lot of
places where we lose on competi
tion for students is failure to offer
full-rides and other scholarships,”
said Tom Jackson, associate vice-
president for public affairs. “We
don’t have a lot of things other
schools do.”
The Board of Regents meets in
April to vote on the increases.
The increase applies only to the
research institutions and not the
other, smaller, state universities,
Winston said.
“The (tuition) difference
recognizes the difference in the
quality of the experience and the
cost for us to provide the education
than what you’d get at Fort
Valley or Gainesville College,” he
said.
ADAMS
BUST A MOVE
COLIN OWENS | The Red & Black
▲ Quang Le, a senior from Marietta, gains momentum spinning
on the floor of the Memorial Hall ballroom in preparation for the
Breakdancing Club’s half-time show during the basketball game
tonight at 9 against Florida. Le has been breakdancing for more
than a year.
News: 2 | Opinions: 4 | Variety: 5 | Sports: 7
INSIDE TODAY
Crossword: 5