THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9512310197
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
You can always count on something a little weird happening during a bowl week, but Saturday at the Sugar Bowl may have set a new standard for the bizarre.
A Texas football player accused of being an impostor skipped town on the eve of the Sugar Bowl, and school officials turned over information gathered during their investigation to the FBI.
A California newspaper reported that Texas special teams player and defensive back Ron McKelvey is really a 30-year-old who has played six years of junior college football in California under two different names. The Californian newspaper of Salinas, Calif., reported that McKelvey's real name is Ron Weaver, and he is writing a book on the scandals of college football.
``It looks like he did provide false information,'' said John Bianco, Texas' associate sports information director. ``He skipped town after a second meeting this morning. His roommate said he packed his bags and left.''
Bianco said information gathered Saturday by school officials suggested the impostor had a criminal past. He did not give further details, but said all the information collected will be handed over to the FBI.
The Californian said Weaver admitted he was an impostor in a telephone interview, but a man reached by The Associated Press Friday at the Longhorns' team hotel identifying himself as McKelvey denied he was Weaver.
``I am who I am, and I have IDs to prove it,'' the man said.
The player known as McKelvey had four tackles and broke up a pass while playing in 12 games for the Longhorns, who play Virginia Tech tonight. If McKelvey is an impostor, Texas feasibly could be forced to forfeit its 10 victories and Southwest Conference title. Texas coach John Mackovic said the university would investigate the matter Saturday.
``Clearly there is a possible eligibility issue,'' Mackovic said earlier. ``We had no prior knowledge of any of this. It comes as a complete surprise to us.''
According to The Californian, Ron Weaver's mother was one of two people who identified a picture in the Texas media guide of McKelvey as her son. Weaver's mother and father said they did not know he was playing for Texas.
The man identifying himself as McKelvey reached in New Orleans by The Associated Press said ``I am not writing no book. I have a hard enough time in English class.'' He said he's studying kinesiology, but ``don't ask me to spell it. They just make me take it.''
Mackovic said McKelvey was recruited by offensive coordinator Gene Dahlquist and defensive backs coach Steve Bernstein. He said because their meetings took place in Los Angeles, where the player was a star cornerback for L.A. Pierce Junior College, the coaches never met his family in Salinas.
A mixup with the player's social security number as he was enrolling at Texas also was resolved, but only after Texas checked it out, Mackovic said. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
The Californian newspaper reported that defensive back Ron
McKelvey's real name is Ron Weaver.
by CNB