Higgins Is Released From UCLA Letter

The attorney representing Sean Higgins said that the decision releasing the Fairfax High School basketball star from his UCLA letter of intent was the only correct way the matter could have been resolved.

In its official ruling released Tuesday, the Collegiate Commissioners Assn., which deals with letters of intent, freed Higgins from the letter he had signed with UCLA in November. The same ruling found that UCLA was not a contributor to the reasons Higgins sought the release from the letter of intent.

Although the CCA routinely does not reveal the reasons behind its rulings, Fred Jacoby, Southwest Conference Commissioner and chairman of the national letter-of-intent steering committee, said that Higgins had been released because of “extenuating circumstances.”

W. Merritt Jones of Detroit, who represents Higgins and his natural father, Earle Higgins of Southfield, Mich., said that those circumstances are clear, that the younger Higgins was coerced into signing the letter of intent.

Sean Higgins told Sports Illustrated recently that his stepfather, Clifford Benson-Bey, slapped him in the face, struck him on the shoulder and stood over him with a baseball bat before he signed the letter. Higgins said that he had wanted to sign with the University of Michigan.

“That reasonably stated what happened,” Jones said. “I think (the Sports Illustrated story) was an accurate picture of what he said happened.”

Benson-Bey, at his home in Inglewood, where he lives with Higgins’ mother, disputed the characterization of himself as a bully.

“Everybody looks at me as a bad guy,” Benson-Bey said. “Everybody else I come into contact with seems to like me, it’s just the opposite of what one individual says. It seems like I’m the culprit in the situation.”

Higgins, 18, has lately been living with relatives of his natural father, who hired Jones to help get his son’s release from the letter of intent. UCLA refused to release the youngster and asked the Pacific 10 Conference to settle the dispute. The Pac-10 turned its findings over to the CCA.

Because UCLA was cleared by the CCA, Jacoby was asked whether the release had in fact been granted solely because of the family feud which Higgins had alleged.

“We’re not going to go beyond ‘extenuating circumstances,’ ” Jacoby said. “There’s too many legal problems out there. I’m not going to get into that.”

Higgins had also said that a UCLA alumnus had offered him a car and money if he would sign with UCLA. The alumnus, Steven Antebi, denied Higgins’ charges and threatened a lawsuit.

Jacoby, chief of the steering committee that is appointed by the CCA to oversee letters of intent, said the decision by his group means that Higgins is in the same position as if he had never signed a letter of intent.

Jacoby also said, however, that Higgins cannot sign a second letter of intent, since only one is allowed. Even so, Higgins is free to enroll at another university next fall. Higgins has said he will attend Michigan.

“He’ll be at Michigan, the school he wanted to go to all along,” Jones said.

Higgins will enroll at Michigan in the fall, Jones said, after he completes commitments to play in the Dapper Dan and the McDonald’s all-star games for high school basketball players.

At UCLA, the official comment was “no comment,” which has been the university’s response all along in the Higgins matter, under instructions from Douglas S. Hobbs, the faculty athletic representative.

Basketball Coach Walt Hazzard said: “The mother is a very fine person, and I think she had the best intentions for (Higgins). . . . Our program will be fine. I’m more concerned about players who want to come here.”

Even though UCLA was cleared in the ruling that released Higgins, the university is still subject to possible sanctions if it is found that UCLA violated NCAA rules in recruiting Higgins.

If UCLA is found guilty of recruiting violations, that may not be announced until April, when the NCAA Committee on Infractions meets again.

Bruin Notes As of Tuesday, there are no plans to televise Thursday night’s game between UCLA and Central Michigan in the first round of the NCAA West Regional at Salt Lake City. If UCLA wins, Channel 2 will carry the Bruins’ second-round game against the winner of Thursday night’s match between Wyoming and Virginia. UCLA’s game time Saturday would be 30 minutes after the first game, which starts at 11:37 a.m. PST. . . . UCLA and Central Michigan had two common opponents this season, California and Notre Dame. UCLA beat California three times and Notre Dame once. The Chippewas lost at Berkeley, 70-57, and lost at South Bend, 55-54.

UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard said the Bruins turned around when he moved guard Dave Immel and forward Charles Rochelin into the starting lineup. They replaced Montel Hatcher and Craig Jackson. “They both accepted their new roles,” Hazzard said of Jackson and Hatcher. But not right away. Neither was at all happy at first, but the team’s success has made both Hatcher and Jackson see things differently. “I got used to it,” Hatcher said. “I didn’t ever get a reason why he did it . . .” Jackson has become UCLA’s designated defender, taking on the other team’s scoring threats at forward. Jackson said he has adapted to not playing as much as he used to. “I can’t complain,” he said. “Ever since Montel and I haven’t been starting, we’ve only lost two games, so you have to say it’s been best for the team.”