Manning Received Loans at Kansas, Agent Confirms

Danny Manning’s agent confirmed Wednesday that the former Kansas basketball star took loans from another former Jayhawk who reportedly admitted he was involved in violations that led to National Collegiate Athletic Assn. probations at Kansas and McNeese State.

“It’s true, yeah,” agent Ron Grinker said of Mike Marshall’s reported statement that he gave Manning small loans. “He gave him $5, $7, $10 when (Manning’s) father (former Kansas assistant Ed Manning) was out of town.”

In its Nov. 14 issue, Sports Illustrated said Marshall’s name was withheld from an NCAA report on Kansas as part of a deal Marshall made with investigators. A 2-year NCAA investigation resulted in a 3-year probation for Kansas, the defending national champion, but the punishment was not based on the loans to Manning.

Marshall, 26, played one season at Kansas in 1983-84, then transferred to McNeese State (in Lake Charles, La.), which also is on NCAA probation. Marshall said he received “thousands of dollars” from McNeese boosters during his year there, the magazine said.

Marshall’s identity was not revealed after the NCAA investigation because he said he wanted to be a coach and did not want the controversy following him.

In two interviews with NCAA investigators, however, Marshall and the NCAA allowed a Sports Illustrated reporter to be present.

“He never explained why he was as open as he was,” said the reporter, Jeffrey Marx, a Washington correspondent for the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Ledger.

Marx’s article said that Marshall, who was closely associated with former Kansas coach Larry Brown, made a cash payment and bought a plane ticket for a potential recruit and also made loans to Manning and other players.

Manning, who led Kansas to the NCAA title last spring, was the first pick in the National Basketball Assn. draft this year but has not signed a contract with the Clippers. Brown, who coached that championship team, returned to the NBA as coach of the San Antonio Spurs.

In its investigation, the NCAA said payments and tickets worth $1,244 were given to Vincent Askew, a Memphis State player who wanted to transfer to Kansas but never did, by Brown and others during the summer of 1986.