KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Missouri intends to wait for the results of an NCAA investigation into pay-for-play allegations and other possible rules violations at Miami before making any decisions about the future of new men’s basketball coach Frank Haith, the school’s chancellor said Friday.
Haith spent seven years at Miami before his surprise hire at Missouri in April. Former Hurricanes booster Nevin Shapiro told Yahoo Sports that Haith was aware of an alleged $10,000 payment to recruit DeQuan Jones via a Miami assistant coach in 2008.
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Shapiro, who is in federal prison after being convicted of running a massive Ponzi scheme, claims to have provided cash, cars, prostitutes and other impermissible benefits to 72 Miami football players and other athletes between 2002 and 2010 with the knowledge of at least six coaches and as many as 10 athletic department employees overall.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton said the school was asked by the NCAA earlier this week to not undertake its own inquiry but instead await the results of the broader investigation. Deaton said he assured NCAA President Mark Emmert that Missouri will “cooperate fully.”
“These kinds of allegations we hear about are very disappointing for all leaders in higher education,” Deaton later said at a Friday afternoon news conference as part of the first public comments by school officials beyond an initial one-paragraph statement issued three days earlier. “We’re waiting for the NCAA process to carry itself out. We’re obviously very concerned.”
Deaton said that Haith “called me and apologized for this having happened.” He otherwise didn’t mention the coach by name.
Haith has not commented except for a statement issued earlier this week: “I am more than happy to cooperate with the national office on this issue and look forward to a quick resolution,” he said. “The NCAA has instructed me not to comment further at this time in order to protect the integrity of their review …
“The reports questioning my personal interactions with Mr. Shapiro are not an accurate portrayal of my character.”
The NCAA investigation into Miami began five months ago, before Haith replaced Mike Anderson, who left for Arkansas.
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