UCLA Talks to Agent About Rush Contacts

UCLA officials took a significant step Wednesday in resolving at least one aspect of the JaRon Rush case, meeting with Jerome Stanley for about an hour in an attempt to determine if the agent and Rush had committed any NCAA violations.

Stanley declined to discuss details, except to say that he denied any wrongdoing, as he has for several days. UCLA would not confirm or deny that a meeting took place.

“I’m looking forward to the truth coming out,” Stanley said. “I can’t wait until the truth comes out, so I can move forward with my life.”

The completion of a large part of one aspect of the inquiry--interviewing the two principals, Rush and Stanley--does not mean the investigation into Rush’s eligibility is nearing an end. Whether Rush had improper dealings with his former AAU coach in Kansas City, Myron Piggie, is more complicated and will be tougher to determine because some NCAA regulations on the relationship between a player and summer league coach are ambiguous.

Rush, a sophomore forward, has been suspended indefinitely while school officials investigate the two issues that could result in anything from a brief suspension and restitution to the loss of collegiate eligibility. He has missed one game already and also has been ruled out for four more as the process continues.

The Stanley issue appears to be coming to a close, at least unofficially. UCLA is not expected to release any findings until the entire investigation is complete, but it does have the option of asking the Pacific 10 Conference or the NCAA to either join the inquiry or open one of its own.

That would be an option under one possible scenario, that Rush admitted to a violation and Stanley denied one, without tangible evidence to support either claim. That would leave the Bruins unable to make a final determination of exactly what transpired, including a report in the Los Angeles Daily News that Rush accepted “several hundred dollars” from Stanley, an NCAA violation.

“It didn’t change through my hands,” Stanley told The Times. “Nothing changed through my hands. I stick by what I said originally. I have done nothing wrong with this young man. Nothing.

“There were not even any words like that [about payments toward future representation]. I’m looking at this guy, I have no idea if he’s going to make it [in the pros]. I don’t go around trying to ingratiate myself to freshmen. I didn’t meet Baron Davis until last year. If there’s anybody you’re going to do that [try to recruit as a client] with, it’s a guy like Baron Davis.”

Said one person close to the situation, supporting Stanley’s claim: “He definitely followed an appropriate level of protocol. . . . He definitely does not come across as a sleazy type of guy.”

Stanley said he first met Rush when Rush played on Piggie’s summer-league team that came to Southern California for a tournament. On learning that Rush had signed with UCLA, the agent said, Stanley gave Rush his phone number and told him to call if he ever wanted to talk.

Stanley said he has chatted with Rush in passing on several occasions, usually when both were at UCLA for pickup games during the summer, Rush as a player and Stanley to see clients. But Stanley said he could recall only three longer conversations, adding all were of a general nature.

Rush’s younger brother, Kareem, a freshman at Missouri, also has been suspended indefinitely while his school investigates whether he broke NCAA rules before he signed with the Tigers.

Their mother, Glenda Rush, has not spoken to JaRon yet. But she did speak to Kareem on Tuesday, saying: “He thinks he’ll be OK,”

She said she did not know Stanley. Asked if Piggie had ever given either of her sons money, cars or other gifts, she said: “I don’t think that was his role. He [Piggie] was just coaching.

“They’re both good kids. He [JaRon] does some stupid things. But he’s only 20, he’ll be 21 in April. He’s learning things the hard way.”

Because of the prominence of the Rush brothers and the federal investigation into Piggie’s activities, the story has been a significant one in Kansas City. Glenda Rush said a television news reporter showed up at her house late Tuesday night.

“I wouldn’t open the door,” she said. “With all this happening, you would think my kids are in the NBA.”

One of the Rush brothers’ teammates on Piggie’s summer-league team was Korleone Young, a second-round draft choice of the Detroit Pistons in 1998. Stanley represented Young until Piggie, Young’s cousin, fired him.

“He [Stanley] could have been trying to get back at me,” Piggie told the Kansas City Star. “I fired him because he wasn’t doing the job right. We were promised a lot [by Stanley] and we didn’t get anything. I can’t get into any more of it.”

Said Stanley: “I don’t have anything to say about Myron Piggie. I want to forget that he exists.”

Piggie fired one more salvo.

“Whatever happened to JaRon, he got tricked,” Piggie told ESPN.com. “Jerome was hungry, looking for young ballplayers. JaRon won’t turn anything down. If you can help him, he’s for you. Kareem doesn’t look for handouts. If anything happened with Kareem, it was done without him knowing.”