Book Charging Corruption Won’t Be Published

“Personal Fouls,” a book alleging widespread corruption in the North Carolina State basketball program, will not be printed by Pocket Books, Inc., because it does not meet its “publishing standards,” the publishing house announced Wednesday.

A source said the refusal to publish by Pocket Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster, meant a review of the manuscript with author Peter Golenbock showed legal problems could result if the book was released.

The existence of “Personal Fouls” became public knowledge Jan. 6 when a draft of a dust jacket mistakenly reached booksellers in the Raleigh-Durham area, evoking protest and threatened lawsuits from coach Jim Valvano and school officials.

Pocket Books agreed to suspend publication to review the manuscript for factual accuracy after North Carolina state Attorney General Lacy Thornburg filed a cease-and-desist letter on the school’s behalf.

Officials at Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books would not expand on a terse statement in which no specific reason was given for the book’s withdrawal, which is a highly unusual occurrence at this stage of the publishing process.

The statement said, “Following completion of careful pre-publication review by the editors with the author, it was determined that the manuscript “Personal Fouls” by Peter Golenbock did not meet the publishing standards established by Pocket Books.”

The book was described by publishers as an investigative look into the N.C. State program, focusing on the 1986-87 season, and, with all the pre-publication controversy, was expected to be a bestseller.

According to the dust jacket, “Personal Fouls” contains allegations of grade tampering, a slush fund for improper payments to players and drug test coverups. It also alleged a former player purposely lost an NCAA tournament game because he feared NCAA drug testing.

“We’ve said all along that it was not true,” university attorney Becky French said. “I think this is a culmination of their inability to verify their facts.”

Valvano, who also serves as the school’s athletic director, released only a brief statement and refused to comment further, closing his basketball practice to the media.

“I am very pleased with this decision and want to express my appreciation to Simon & Schuster for taking the time to conduct a careful and complete review of the manuscript,” Valvano said. “Now, I am hoping to turn my full attention and energies to the players of the North Carolina State basketball team and to the people involved in the operation of our department of athletics.”

Golenbock, a previously published author of sports-related books, also would speak only briefly. “At this time, I’ll say I stand by what I wrote, and I am confident my book will be published,” he said by phone from his home in Connecticut. He said he would seek another publisher.

Pocket Books ran an advertisement for the book in Publisher’s Weekly, a trade magazine, as recently as last month, promising a mid-February publication date. A source in the publishing industry said a reason for the decision not to print was that much of the information it contained was deemed difficult to support from a legal standpoint. John Bender, chief counsel for Simon & Schuster, was not available for comment.

Valvano’s attorney, Arthur C. Kaminsky, said the three allegations he protested most strenuously to publishers were those of drug use by players, grade fixing and money laundering. Valvano has said Golenbock never contacted him about the allegations.

“My supposition is that they found not a whit of evidence,” Kaminsky said. “All I can say as an attorney is that if my client produced a manuscript along those lines, I would perceive huge legal problems.”

Many of the former players Golenbock attempted to interview at North Carolina State have said the author offered them money in exchange for information. A former team manager, John Simonds, acknowledged in a recent television interview he cooperated with Golenbock.

Prior to his association with Golenbock, Simonds allegedly approached at least two other authors with offers to bring players with information in exchange for money.

French said she and the state attorney general’s office, which acts as an agent of the university in legal matters, would evaluate whether to file a lawsuit based on damage done by the premature release of the dust jacket. The allegations resulted in ongoing campus and NCAA inquiries, as well as intense media coverage. The events coincided with an athletic department fundraising drive that she said may have been affected.

“This is not a total victory, because the school has suffered immeasurable harm,” she said. “It’s been a trial and tribulation for Jim Valvano, his family, the basketball team and the faculty and administration.”

But Kaminsky said Valvano would not seek damages. “Our current intent is not to commence litigation,” he said. “But I reserve the right to change my mind.”

The dust jacket, first obtained and exerpted by the Raleigh News and Observer, was a photocopy not intended for publication or publicity use. A Simon & Schuster spokesman said, “It was an unauthorized release of a preliminary draft.”

French said the need for the in-house inquiry would be re-evaluated. She said the inquiry thus far had revealed no evidence of wrongdoing. A panel appointed by the University of North Carolina system has also looked into the allegations, compiling almost 3,000 pages of documents, and found no evidence to support them. NCAA director of enforcement David Berst said his inquiry would also be reassessed, since it largely depended on the release of the book.

“We’ve tried to review those things we thought it (the book) contained,” Berst said. “But now it’s obviously hard to review those things we will never know.”