Utah’s Marsh Says Sports Agent Paid Him : College football: Receiver, now with NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, says Caron gave him money and gifts.

The sports agent accused of giving thousands of dollars to USC football player Shawn Walters gave money and phone cards to Utah wide receiver Curtis Marsh before his eligibility had expired, Marsh said.

Marsh, now on the practice squad with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, told The Times Thursday that Robert Troy Caron, a sports agent and personal injury attorney from Oxnard, gave him gifts and cash worth about $10,000--some of it before Marsh’s eligibility ended after the 1994 Freedom Bowl.

Marsh is the first player to admit publicly that he accepted money and gifts from Caron in violation of NCAA rules. However, once a football player leaves school, the NCAA rarely assesses penalties.

“He [Caron] gave me money a couple of times before I was finished with my college career,” said Marsh, who signed a contract with Caron but later terminated it.

”. . . I discontinued service with him [Caron] like two days before my contract with him was finished. I told him I would pay him back if I made a team, but he lost me a lot of money because I was rated 10th in the nation going into the combine and he sent me to a training camp where they had me lifting weights. . . . I gained 10 pounds and ran a 4.6 in the 40 when I can run a 4.4 every day. I should have just stayed home and trained on my own.”

Caron said that neither he nor anyone from his agency, Pro Manage, gave Marsh anything before his eligibility expired. “The first time I ever laid my eyes on him was the night of the Freedom Bowl after the game,” Caron said Thursday night.

Marsh said that when he terminated his contract with Caron, Caron told him he had to pay the money back and gave him a list of the expenses. One of the entries on the list, which was obtained by The Times, was for $7,000 in cash.

“He [Caron] said, ‘I can make you pay this and pay that,’ ” Marsh said. “I said, ‘You were giving me money at the bowl game and phone cards before my eligibility was through.’ That list that you [The Times] have, I thought then that if he cut that amount [that he gave me] in half, then maybe I would stay with him. But he didn’t.”

Marsh says he eventually signed with agent Steve Weinberg.

Marsh said he met Caron when he was at Utah, where he played the 1993 and ’94 seasons. He said Caron sent him notices in the mail, as many agents did. But Marsh, who attended Simi Valley High and Moorpark College, said he liked Caron and his agency.

“He was cool, they were all young and from the same area, Ventura College and Moorpark,” Marsh said. “But they were hurting my career and I had to do what I had to do.

”. . . He [Caron] was going to hire ABC or Prime Ticket to make a highlight film of me, but he never did. I made my own and sent it out on my own. I was calling teams myself. . . . I was drafted in the last round. [Caron] cost me thousands of dollars.”

Fern Gardner, associate athletic director at Utah, said the school had heard that Marsh was linked with Caron. She confirmed the school also is looking into the relationship between Caron and Utah basketball player Brandon Jessie. The Times reported last week that Caron gave Jessie a pager.