A former University of Minnesota football player...

A former University of Minnesota football player claims that a former assistant football coach gave him cash, bought him clothes and paid his rent and a parking ticket, according to a published report.

Pudgy Abercrombie, a tailback who quit the team before the 1986 season, said the payments were made by Jim Strong, an assistant under then head coach Lou Holtz. Holtz is coaching at Notre Dame, and Strong is on Holtz’s staff there.

Holtz came to Notre Dame in 1986 after two years at Minnesota. He and Strong denied the allegations.

Abercrombie claims that Holtz sent him to Strong after he asked for money. Abercrombie said Strong paid his airline ticket from his home in Aliquippa, Pa., to Minneapolis before the start of his freshman year in 1985. Abercrombie also claimed that Strong bought him clothing and paid rent on his apartment.

These latest allegations add to a list of possible violations the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. is already investigating at the university.