NCAA Upholds Suspension of Utah’s Jessie

The NCAA eligibility committee Tuesday upheld a seven-game suspension of basketball player Brandon Jessie, ending the University of Utah’s effort to reduce the penalty for his involvement with a sports agent.

“I’m disappointed, but that’s their decision, so I guess I just have to deal with it,” said Jessie, who will be eligible Dec. 21 when Utah plays at Wake Forest. “I think it is unfair, but I guess the NCAA looks at things differently than student-athletes do.”

Utah argued that Jessie, a former Ventura College and Huntington Beach Edison High star, had not violated NCAA agent rules through his association with Robert Troy Caron, a personal injury lawyer from Oxnard who recently became a players’ agent.

Utah officials claimed that Caron never intended to represent basketball players and had no interest in representing Jessie when he befriended him more than two years ago. For the last 10 years, Caron has been one of Ventura College basketball’s biggest boosters.

“They never took into consideration that Brandon does not want, nor never wanted, Mr. Caron to represent him,” said David Jordan, a Salt Lake City attorney who represented Utah before the eligibility committee.

But Carrie Doyle, NCAA director of eligibility, said there is nothing to stop Caron from representing basketball players, even though he does not do so now. Caron is registered with the NBA players’ association.

Jessie, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior, was one of a dozen players who drew scrutiny for his link to Caron. He allegedly received $365 in benefits in the form of two telephone calling cards and use of a pager for a year.

Jessie said he had received the items from his father, former Ram receiver Ron Jessie, who worked for Caron as a recruiter when Caron opened Pro Manage sports agency in October 1994. Caron said he had provided Ron Jessie with the items.

A Times investigation found that the pager in question was being used by Brandon in September, although his father had left Pro Manage in March. Jordan, Utah’s attorney, said Ron Jessie never asked his son to return the pager and Caron’s agency continued paying the bill.

Caron said his involvement with Jessie “was not a player-agent relationship.”