Boatright attorney slams NCAA
Connecticut’s Ryan Boatright said he just wanted to concentrate on basketball while his mother considered legal action after an NCAA news release detailed an investigation into the freshman guard’s eligibility.
Boatright played Sunday in the 19thranked Huskies’ 50-48 loss to Notre Dame after the NCAA said it would take no further action despite finding he and his mother had accepted more than $8,000 in impermissible benefits from at least two people.
“It’s finally over with,” Boatright said. “We can finally put it behind us. We don’t have to worry about me getting pulled out again.”
But Scott Tompsett, an attorney representing Ryan’s mother, Tanesha, issued a statement about Saturday’s NCAA release announcing the findings, calling it false and misleading. He said the people providing the benefits were friends of the Boatright family and had “no expectation of repayment or reciprocation.”
“And there’s not a shred of evidence that they influenced Ryan’s decision to attend Uconn or that they intend to represent Ryan if he ever goes pro,” Tompsett said. “The public also should know that the NCAA never told Tanesha and Ryan who made the accusations about them or told them the substance of the accusations so they could defend themselves.”
Tompsett also said the Boatrights had been told the information they gave the NCAA would be confidential.
NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn issued a statement Sunday saying the organization had not violated the family’s privacy nor implied the benefits were used to influence Boatright to attend Uconn.
“In fact, both Uconn and Mr. Boatright should be commended for their cooperation throughout the process to gather information,” Osburn said. “Had Ms. Boatright cooperated fully from the beginning, this matter could have been settled months ago.”
Witt allegation:
When Patrick Witt was faced with either playing Harvard in his final game or interviewing to become a Rhodes scholar, the Yale quarterback chose football.
According to a story in The New York Times, Witt made the decision at a time when his candidacy had been suspended because of an allegation of sexual assault by a Yale student.
Witt released a statement Friday through his agent, Mark F. Magazu, denying the allegations in The Times story.
“To be clear, Patrick’s Rhodes candidacy was never ‘suspended,’ as the article suggests, and his official record at Yale contains no disciplinary issues,” the statement said.
“Patrick became aware that an anonymous source had contacted the Rhodes Trust with false information purporting to reference an informal — and confidential — complaint within the university. In light of this, and given the short period of time between this occurrence and the potential final interview, the Rhodes Trust asked for an additional letter of reference for Patrick from Yale. By that time, however, Patrick had already informed athletic department officials that he intended to withdraw his candidacy.”
There is no public record of the accusation.