NCAA Hires Outsider for Virginia Probe

In an unprecedented move, the NCAA said it has hired James Park Jr., a Lexington, Ky., lawyer, to investigate questionable loans made to student-athletes at the University of Virginia, where Dick Schultz, now executive director of the NCAA, was the athletic director from 1981-87. Park is to concentrate his investigation on any ties Schultz may have had to the loans, the NCAA said.

Park, 59, will look into a 550-page report from internal investigators who determined the school broke NCAA rules by providing interest-free loans to athletes for purposes ranging from health insurance to helping an athlete pay for his girlfriend’s abortion.

The report said 30 athletes received 45 loans totaling $14,948.98 from the Virginia Student Aid Foundation. NCAA rules prohibit any loans to athletes that are not available to other students.