IN BRIEF : Investigation Clears Georgia Coach

A University of Georgia investigation has concluded that basketball Coach Hugh Durham did not know about secret payments by a sports agent to Dominique Wilkins while Wilkins was playing at Georgia.

“There is no clear and credible evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, to indicate that Durham was aware” of Wilkins’ dealings with agent Jack Manton, said a 50-page report on the investigation released by the school. The report was authored by Athens attorney Edward D. Tolley and was based on interviews with Wilkins, Durham and Manton, as well as a deposition given by Wilkins in a court case in 1986.

Wilkins, now a star with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, acknowledged earlier this month that he had signed an agent contract with Manton while at Georgia and had, along with his mother, received nearly $30,000 in payments from the agent. Such an arrangement would apparently violate NCAA rules.

Wilkins also testified in 1985 in a civil case that Durham was aware of the relationship, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But Durham denied knowing about the transaction, and Wilkins later insisted that Durham had no knowledge of it. Tolley’s report cited a 1986 deposition given by Wilkins in the same case in which he said Durham did not know about the money he got from Manton.