Chapman Used Ineligible Player

Chapman University running back Darnell Morgan has played this season for the undefeated Division III football power despite having already exhausted his four years of football eligibility under NCAA rules, school officials said Tuesday.

Chapman, which checked Morgan’s status after The Times raised questions about his eligibility, could face sanctions that include forfeiting all five of this season’s victories, Athletic Director Dave Currey said.

“I have already called the NCAA and notified them of an ineligible player participating,” Currey said. “The consequences are ugly.”

Penny Brush, associate athletic director at Chapman, said the school did not check the number of years Morgan had played at Cerritos College before he transferred to Chapman in 1994. Instead, Brush said, the school relied on paperwork Morgan filled out before each football season describing the number of years of eligibility he had remaining.

The Panthers are 5-0 and ranked fourth in the NCAA Division III West Region. Morgan has played in all five of their games. The top four teams from each region advance to the playoffs.

Chapman President Jim Doti said he was shocked and dismayed to hear the news but expressed support for the coaching staff and athletic department.

Doti said he has been told Division III programs don’t run extensive eligibility checks on transfer students but that Chapman would look into checking more thoroughly in the future.

“It puts a taint on an otherwise incredible season,” said Doti, who made the decision to resurrect a football program at the institution after a 62-year hiatus.

In three seasons, Chapman has built one of the top Division III football teams in California. The Panthers are 20-3-1 during that span and have won their last 13 games.

This season, they have dominated each of their opponents. The last four, including two NCAA Division II teams, have lost by no less than four touchdowns.

“This probably wouldn’t have come to light if the team wasn’t doing so well,” Doti said, “but I’m glad it did. We’ll learn from it and in the long run, we’ll have a better athletic program. It’s just unfortunate that it had to happen to these guys.”

Chapman Coach Ken Visser said he told the team about the probable forfeits before practice Tuesday. “Their reaction was to quiet down a little,” Visser said. “Like all of us, they need time to let it settle in.”

Visser said he talked to Morgan before the meeting and that Morgan appeared confused over what the term medical redshirt means, “although it was described to him before.”

Morgan was not available for comment Tuesday.

The NCAA is expected to rule today on possible penalties for the apparent violation, Currey said.

Division III athletes are allowed to play four seasons, according to NCAA rules. Cerritos’ athletic records show Morgan played in 11 games at Cerritos during the 1992 season and was the team’s leading rusher, gaining 1,001 yards. He played in four games during the 1991 season.

Under NCAA rules, a player must play in no more than 20% of the team’s games in the first half of the season to to be granted a redshirt year. Morgan not only played in four of the 11 games, he participated in the seventh and eighth games that season. He gained 66 yards as a reserve running back.

“We show that he used two years eligibility,” Cerritos Athletic Director Pam Walker said last week.

Morgan did not play football during the 1993 season, but transferred to Chapman for the fall of 1994. He was a starting running back for the Panthers in 1994 and 1995. Before each season, he was required to fill out an eligibility form.

“The checks and balances are a student signs a statement saying this is true information, factual information,” Currey said. “That is what we use for eligibility checks.”

Chapman officials said forms filled out by Morgan this year showed he had one year of eligibility remaining. They said they did not check with Cerritos about Morgan’s eligibility status until Tuesday.

“The coaching staff works with their colleagues from other schools, but I would imagine that we don’t have any formal tracer report,” said Brush, who checks athletes’ eligibility for the university. “I don’t know of any Division III school that does tracer reports to every institution for every transfer student.”

Currey said the department would look into doing more thorough eligibility checks. “We certainly have a reason to start doing that,” he said.

Morgan has 594 yards and eight touchdowns this season. A leg injury limited him to two series in last week’s 48-7 victory over Sonoma State and one carry in a 49-7 victory over Cal Lutheran Oct. 12.

In 1995, he gained 1,289 yards and scored 21 touchdowns, leading Division III in scoring with 126 points. He also had 1,602 all-purpose yards, setting an NCAA record by gaining an average of 12 yards every time he touched the ball. Morgan gained 691 yards for Chapman in 1994.

Staff writer Chris Foster contributed to this story.