honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, March 26, 2009

Report: UConn broke NCAA rules

By DAVE COLLINS
Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Jim Calhoun

spacer spacer

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said he and the university are looking into a Yahoo! Sports report claiming the school broke NCAA rules during the recruitment of former basketball player Nate Miles, but added Miles is not at UConn and his team remains focused on the NCAA tournament.

Yahoo reported yesterday that Miles, a 6-7 guard from Ohio, was given lodging, transportation, meals and representation by sports agent Josh Nochimson, and a UConn assistant coach knew about the relationship between the player and the agent. The story cited interviews, documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws and other sources.

Nochimson, a former student manager for UConn, was considered a representative of UConn's athletic interests by the NCAA and was prohibited from having contact with Miles or giving him anything of value, Yahoo reported.

Records also show that five UConn coaches called Nochimson and text-messaged him at least 1,565 times during a nearly two-year period before and after Miles' recruitment in 2006 and early 2007. Calhoun had 16 of those communications, Yahoo reported. Yahoo reported that NCAA rules allow only one phone call per month to a prospect or his family in the player's junior year of high school.

Former UConn assistant coach Tom Moore made three calls to Miles and 27 other calls to Miles' guardian and a person Miles said was his uncle, all in December 2006, Yahoo reported.

Miles was expelled from UConn in October without ever playing a game for the Huskies after he was charged with violating a restraining order in a case involving a woman who claimed he assaulted her. He is now attending the College of Southern Idaho.

Calhoun, in Glendale, Ariz., as the team prepared for an NCAA regional semifinal against Purdue tonight, did not specifically respond to the story's allegations. He pointed out that Miles is "not involved with our program" and said he is not concerned about the issue distracting the Huskies' quest for a third national title.

"We can keep our kids focused on what we're going to do, let them understand that the university ... will handle anything else that needs to be handled," Calhoun said.