Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 17, 1993 TAG: 9303170173
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS LENGTH: Medium
UNLV LOSES STANDOUT
J.R. Rider's college basketball career ended Tuesday when Nevada-Las Vegas suspended the star forward after finding a tutor wrote part of a paper that helped him remain eligible.Rider, the nation's second leading scorer at 29.2 points a game, was suspended for the rest of the season, effectively ending his two-year career at UNLV.
The Runnin' Rebels play at home tonight in a first-round NIT game against Southern Cal.
The suspension came after a university investigation confirmed newspaper reports that Rider had not done his own work in an English 102 summer correspondence course.
Athletic director Jim Weaver, citing student privacy concerns, would not comment on the exact reasons for Rider's suspension except to say that information published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal is at the "core of the issue."
Sources told The Associated Press, however, that one of Rider's tutors came forward late Monday night and admitted to writing one of two pages of work needed to complete the correspondence course.
Coach Rollie Massimino said he backed the decision to suspend Rider, but he didn't agree that Rider did anything wrong. "I'm totally convinced he did all the work," Massimino said. "He did take the test. He did everything he had to do." Rider's classwork came into question Thursday when the Review-Journal reported English instructor Vicki Bertolino said she was pressured by school officials into giving Rider a passing grade in the three-unit class that put Rider over the 24-unit annual minimum needed to become eligible for the 1992-93 school year. UNLV officials initially said Rider would remain eligible and that there didn't appear to be any violations. But the investigation heated up again Sunday after the newspaper published copies of two pages of Rider's work for the course, each done in different handwriting. University officials are particularly sensitive because Massimino was hired as a coach who stressed academics after the bitter resignation of former coach Jerry Tarkanian. Weaver said he was confident in coach Rollie Massimino's abilities and said the investigation has not shown any wrongdoing on the part of the basketball staff. "I want to say no one on the men's basketball staff violated NCAA or university rules," Weaver said. "Coach Massimino insisted we abide by NCAA rules and do exactly what the NCAA required."