Fowlkes Gets Early Return on Appeal

California star forward Tremaine Fowlkes appealed for leniency from the NCAA eligibility committee Thursday and came away partly successful, with the group ruling that Fowlkes will sit out only half the basketball season instead of all of it.

For that, he has his father to thank.

In a strange twist, the committee took into consideration that it was Fowlkes’ father, Ron Fowlkes, who phoned the NCAA and Cal basketball Coach Todd Bozeman with concerns that a former sports agent, James Casey, was soliciting his son and had bought him a car, which violates NCAA rules. After a lengthy investigation by Cal and the Pacific 10 Conference, Fowlkes eventually admitted that Casey had given him $1,800 toward the purchase of a Chevy Blazer.

To muddle the situation further, Casey, who was registered with the NBA Players Assn. from 1990-93, says he gave Fowlkes the money out of gratitude to Ron Fowlkes, who he says kept him in line as a physical education teacher and security guard at Los Angeles High in the 1970s.

“This had nothing to do with Casey, it had to do with the high calling of parenting,” Ron Fowlkes said Thursday night. “I was just doing what a responsible parent should do. Let me be clear about this: I love my son dearly and I am proud of him.”

Fowlkes, a sophomore, will miss the first 14 games of the regular season. He will be eligible to play the final 13 games, beginning Jan. 25 against Washington State.

“The eligibility committee indicated they believed the actions of the father should be considered a mitigating circumstance,” said Carrie Doyle, NCAA director of eligibility. “The committee also considered that the student athlete had received a significant benefit, that initially he had not provided complete and honest information when he was first interviewed by the institution and that he dealt directly with an agent, as opposed to a runner.”

The ruling was somewhat unexpected, since the NCAA eligibility committee--an appeals group made up of five Division I school representatives--had issued an edict to the NCAA staff earlier this year to treat agent cases harshly. The staff complied, ruling on Nov. 17 that Fowlkes would have to sit out the entire season. But Cal officials thought the penalty had no precedent and was too severe.

“I feel good that it shows the appeals process is in place,” said John Kasser, Cal’s athletic director. “ . . . I’m happy for Tremaine that he will be able to play this season.”

But 14 games without Fowlkes is still a big loss for Bozeman, who had planned to use Fowlkes and freshman star forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim as twin threats. Fowlkes, phenom from Crenshaw High, was the Pacific 10 Conference freshman of the year last season and the team’s leading rebounder.

“I’m glad to get him back, but I’m not particularly satisfied with the amount of games,” Bozeman said.

Fowlkes, who averaged 13.4 points and 6.7 rebounds last season, was not made available for comment.

The investigation began in August after Ron Fowlkes had met with Casey and discussed his concerns. It focused on Fowlkes’ acquisition of two cars, a Chevy Blazer and Ford Explorer, the latter apparently amounting to nothing. But the salesman who sold Fowlkes the Blazer at Harbor Chevrolet in Long Beach identified Casey as the man who accompanied Fowlkes to the dealership in March and paid thousands in cash toward the sale price of $10,800.

Casey has told The Times he gave Fowlkes only $1,800. But he and Fowlkes contend that they are longtime friends and should fall under the NCAA’s existing family friend rule, which would have allowed Casey to give him the money. Additionally, Casey says he is no longer an agent and should not be considered as such.

But Fowlkes’ father said that Casey is not a family friend. And the NCAA said it is not responsible to determine when an agent quits being one.

“Tremaine is resilient and he will come back from this and be better than ever now,” Ron Fowlkes said. “He’s not angry with me.”