Advertisement

Former Coach Denies He Knew of Ineligibility

Share
From Associated Press

A former Howard University football coach at the center of a growing scandal over players who apparently played after their four-year college eligibility had expired has said he never intentionally used ineligible players.

As many as one-third of the players on the Howard team have been told they have one less year of eligibility than originally thought going into the 1989 season, school officials have said.

The eligibility foul-up apparently affects about 30 players recruited for the Bison under former coach Willie Jeffries, Howard deputy counsel Francis Smith said Thursday.

Advertisement

Jeffries, contacted Thursday, said he was told he was told three players Howard attorneys have asked him about were eligible.

“The records we were shown indicated they had not played before” 1984, he said.

When he went to Washington in mid-June to give a deposition to Howard attorneys, “they asked me about the three players and the financial aid irregularities,” he said from his Orangeburg, S.C., office.

“The records we were shown indicated they had not played before. We thought they were redshirt freshmen. To our knowledge they only played four years. They said they had not played in 1983.”

The school has said it is investigating irregularities in the Bison football program under Jeffries over four years.

Advertisement