From: crs@stein.u.washington.edu (Cliff Slaughterbeck)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college
Subject: Re: Trouble at the UDub
Date: 7 Nov 92 06:24:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov7.062427.14091
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

gln@cs.arizona.edu (Gary L. Newell) writes:
>
>He's screwed. The guy is a booster from what I heard and I would be worried
>if I were a Washington fan - tell me, what are the chances that the
>second string QB is the only player on the team who was offered and
>accepted $$ from this guy or another booster like him? I'm gonna
>guess that there are a few nervous players in that locker room right
>now....

The guy who gave Hobert the loan is NOT a booster or an alum of the UW.  He
is not affiliated with them in any way.  He may suffer from a very bad sense
of judgement, but apparently, so does Hobert.

Tonight's Seattle Times had more information about the incident.  This guy
really is not affiliated with the UW in any way.  The problems, if there
are any (officially, that has not been determined) are twofold:

(1)  It is NOT a violation of NCAA rules for athletes to obtain loans.  The
rules do stipulate, however, that they must have a payback schedule which this
loan does not--it can be called any time by the guy who issued the loan.
Furthermore, the loan must have reasonable terms (interest rates, etc.)  This
loan does appear to meet the second criteria, since the loan does carry a
10% interest rate.  Also, the loan can not be issued on the basis that the
player will be able to pay it back easily when he (or she) turns pro.  If the
NCAA decides that the loan made to Hobert violates this statute, they may 
declare Hobert ineligible or suspend him for a number of games like they did
with DuBose.

(2)  A potentially much more serious penalty can be handed out if the NCAA
finds that the UW athletic department was negligent in pursuing the matter.
It is the responsibility of the coaching staff and athletic department to
monitor the athletes to make sure that violations don't occur.  By all 
accounts, Hobert did tell several assistant coaches that he was getting a
loan to help cover his expenses.  As noted above, this is permissible under
NCAA guidlines.  They thought little of it, but refered him to Dick Baird,
the Husky recruiting coordinator who is supposed to be in charge of making
sure that NCAA rules are followed.  The guy who made the loan also indicated
that he was concerned that the loan could affect Hobert's eligibility and
was assured by Hobert that he had cleared it with the coaching staff
Apparently, either Hobert didn't fully clear it with the coaching staff or
they thought it was OK and told him to go ahead.  If there was an NCAA 
violation and the coaching staff knew about it but did nothing, that is
a much more serious crime (NCAA-wise speaking).  That penalty could result
in anything from complete forfiture of all games Hobert played in (all of
them this year) to full probation with loss of scholarships and TV, etc.

At this point, I just hope the NCAA does their thing quickly rather than
dragging it on for months.

****************************************************************************
Cliff Slaughterbeck           * 
Dept. of Physics, FM-15       *   Hey Matt!  The diffusion pump is full of
University of Washington      *   water again!
Seattle, WA 98195             *
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Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college