Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 15, 1993 TAG: 9304150107
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TOM STEADMAN LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WAKE FOREST IS ACCUSED OF VIOLATION
Wake Forest University officials said Wednesday they are investigating accusations that the school violated NCAA regulations in recruiting Makhtar Ndiaye, a 6-9 basketball star from Senegal who played this year at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.Included are claims that Wake Forest coaches paid Ndiaye at least once and promised him a regular allowance, clothing and jobs.
Wake Forest head basketball coach Dave Odom would not comment on the case Wednesday. Athletic director Ron Wellman issued the following statement:
"It has come to our attention that a violation may have occurred in the recruitment of a prospective student-athlete to our men's basketball program. As with any allegation, we are examining the issue thoroughly."
The accusations stem from Jim Davies, a Greensboro, N.C., man who says he was hired by Odom to help recruit Ndiaye, whose family speaks French. Davies, a Liberian native and an experienced interpreter with a master's degree in French from Villanova University, told the Greensboro News & Record that he made numerous calls to Ndiaye's family in Senegal, beginning in May 1992 with a call Davies made from Odom's office.
Davies said he decided to go public with the story when Odom and Wake Forest failed to pay him the $4,500 he said he was owed for his services. He said Wake offered him only $400.
Davies said he was hired to convince Ndiaye's "reluctant" father to allow his son to come to the United States for his senior year of high school. He said he promised the father on Odom's behalf that the young player would receive a scholarship, beginning with his senior year in high school and continuing at Wake Forest University, which would include regular payments, as well as clothing, tuition, room and board.
Offering a student athlete any benefits not generally available to the student body would constitute a rules violation.
Davies said Wake Forest assistant coach Larry Davis, a former head coach at Oak Hill, even asked him to put up Ndiaye at his home for a while. In mid-October, when Ndiaye was at Oak Hill, Davies said, the Wake assistant sent the player $250 via a check made out to Lisa Smith, identified by Davies as the wife of Oak Hill Coach Steve Smith. Lisa Smith cashed the check, Davies said, gave the money to Ndiaye and told him its source. Oak Hill Coach Steve Smith said Wednesday he was familiar with Davies' charges but refused comment.
Memo: slightly different version ran in the State edition.