Page images
PDF
EPUB

-38

his involvement with the young lady with whom Jordan had arranged the date. Clark recalls that Delany also told him that he advised Cooper he would not turn in information of violations against Ole Miss with regard to Jordan, but that Ole Miss should clean up its act and desist from these recruiting practices in the future. Clark cannot recall whether Delany specifically told him that his involvement with Jordan's female friend was directly related to Delany's statement to Cooper; however, it is Clark's impression that Delany's involvement with the young lady was the reason that Delany said he told Cooper that he would not report violations against Ole Miss with regard to Jordan. Clark indicates that Delany did not tell him the nature of the violations with regard to Jordan, but Clark is of the opinion that it had something to do with an improper meal that was provided for Jordan;

(11) That on February 28, 1975, Delany reported to the NCAA information concerning a possible violation against Ole Miss involving Jordan's high-school coach;

(12) That Delany's report of February 28, 1975, related to an interview he had on February 7, 1975, with the Kosciusko High School coach concerning the recruiting practices of Ole Miss and Mississippi State relative to Jordan and two other Kosciusko football players; that the coach told Delany that while on the Ole Miss campus, he stayed at the Ramada Inn in Oxford, and that the Ole Miss Athletic Department paid his bill at the Inn; and that the coach was worried that this might have been a recruiting violation and offered to refund the cost of the room to Ole Miss;

(13) That Delany's report of February 28, 1975, was subsequent to the occasion when Jordan arranged the date for Delany with the young lady, and was prior to Delany's initial meeting with Cooper;

(14) That in response to questioning by Congressman Marks, Clark cited the Jordan--young lady--Cooper incident as another example of bribery during his testimony (pgs. 82-84); however, Clark cannot now state which of the parties (Delany/Jordan) is the briber and which is the bribee, and he acknowledges that the term 'bribery' "doesn't fit very well" as to this particular incident.

[blocks in formation]

a. Finding (10) The only element of conflict in the evidence received by the staff occurs in the conversation(s) between Delany and Clark. Both agree that Delany told Clark about his involvement with a young lady in Kosciusko with whom Jordan had arranged a date for Delany. Delany explained that in early 1976, he became aware that a school he had investigated had initiated a background check on him in North Carolina, where Delany had gone to school, to determine if he had been involved with narcotics and gambling. According to Delany, he told Clark that if they wanted to embarrass him, they could find out a high school student athlete arranged a date for him in Kosciusko. It was in this context that Delany told Clark about the incident relating to Jordan and the young lady. Delany indicates that in another conversation with Clark, he discussed meeting Cooper on two occasions while

interviewing athletes on the Ole Miss campus.

However, Delany states

that these brief meetings with Cooper were totally unrelated to the

incident involving Jordan and the young lady.

Delany states, and Jordan concurs, that Jordan did

not provide him with any information suggesting that he was improperly recruited by Ole Miss. Cooper states, and Delany concurs, that Jordan's name did not come up in their conversations and that at no time did Delany tell Cooper he would not turn in information of violations against Ole Miss with regard to Jordan or any other student athlete. Cooper stated that any suggestion that such a conversation took place is an "absolute and complete lie."

In addition, Jordan indicates that he merely arranged a blind date for Delany with a young lady in Kosciusko who is a friend of his, and that he did not see Delany and the young lady together and does not know anything further about their relationship.

Clark recalls only the one conversation with Delany relative to Jordan, the young lady, and Cooper. Clark is unable to recall when this conversation occurred. Clark indicates that Delany told him of his involvement with Jordan's female friend, and also that Delany told him he told Cooper he (Delany) would not turn in information of violations against Ole Miss with regard to Jordan, but that Ole Miss should clean up its act and not engage in similar recruiting practices in the future. Clark cannot recall whether Delany said he made this statement to Cooper because of his involvement with the young lady, but it was Clark's impression that this was, in fact, the reason.

Clark indicates that in his use of the phrase

"provided Mr. Delany with the services of a young lady" he did not intend to characterize or imply that she was a prostitute. He further indicates that in his testimony on page 84, lines 1 through 8, he did not mean to imply that the phrase "...because Jordan had certain information on Delany which he did not wish to be made known to his superiors" (lines 7 and 8) was told to Cooper by Delany. These are Clark's words based on his impression of the reason Delany said he mentioned to Cooper that he would not turn in information of violations against Ole Miss with regard to Jordan. Clark denies that Delany told him about the incident involving Jordan and the young lady in the context of the background check on Delany, and indicates that Delany told him about the background check on a separate occasion unrelated to Jordan and the girl.

2.

Evidence Not in Conflict

a.

Findings (4),(5),(6),(7),(8) and (9)

These findings

relate to the fact that Jordan did arrange a date for Delany with a young lady in Kosciusko, and that subsequently, Delany had two brief meetings with Cooper for the purpose of obtaining Cooper's assistance in arranging several on-campus interviews; that Cooper inquired whether Ole Miss' recruiting practices were within NCAA regulations to which Delany replied that he was not asking those kinds of questions; that Jordan did not furnish Delany any information indicating he had been improperly recruited by Ole Miss; that Delany did not tell Cooper he would not turn in information of violations against Ole Miss with regard to Jordan or any other

student athlete; and that Jordan's name was never mentioned in conversations between Delany and Cooper.

-42

On the surface, it does not seem plausible that

Delany or any other NCAA investigator would tell Cooper, an institution coach and a stranger, that "he would not turn in information of violations against Ole Miss", although Clark speculates that Delany might have done so because he could not be sure that Jordan would not mention the incident involving the young lady to Cooper at some future date. Both Jordan and Cooper stated that Jordan never discussed with Cooper the date he arranged for Delany.

b.

Findings (11),(12) and (13) - In addition, it does not seem plausible that Delany would prepare a report for the NCAA on February 28, 1975, which was subsequent to his date with Jordan's female friend and prior to his initial meeting with Cooper, in which he records an admission by Jordan's high-school coach of a recruiting violation by Ole Miss in the context of an interview concerning Ole Miss' recruitment of Jordan and two other Kosciusko football players if, in fact, Delany was intent on suppressing any reference to Jordan.

It should be noted that Delany was initially accompanied to Kosciusko by David Berst, his immediate superior at the NCAA, and that both Delany and Berst interviewed the high-school coach, Jordan, and other student athletes in town. During the time Delany was investigating the Mississippi State case, no evidence was found to indicate that Jordan's name was in anyway linked to improper recruiting practices by Ole Miss with the exception of Delany's report of February 28, 1975, containing the admission by the high-school coach.

« PreviousContinue »