Steve Horton, USF compliance officer and assistant director for athletics, said he will interview the coaches and former players in order to determine to what extent the allegations are true. There is no time line for completing his investigation. Horton said he will proceed cautiously since calls being made by players is not an automatic violation of any rules. He said calls are normally made to players' families. If a player was injured, we call.
Coaches do that and parents want that.
Athletics director Paul Griffin said it is common practice. For example, he said the university paid for a long-distance phone call for former basketball player Monica Echeverria when her father was sick in Columbia. He said there is no parallel between the past problems and alleged new ones. It is here now because it involves women's basketball. Instead, the university ordered them to repay the bills.