Tennessee Probes Fraud Allegations

Defending national champion Tennessee, which in recent years has uncovered cheating in its advanced degree programs and a telephone card fraud scandal among its athletes, is now investigating whether tutors did schoolwork for football players.

ESPN reported Sunday that internal memos show high-level administrators in the athletic department were told of four tutors who may have done schoolwork for at least five football players, possibly violating the university’s honor code and NCAA rules.

Tennessee President J. Wade Gilley said the school is following “normal procedure and has turned this matter over to the [university’s] general counsel’s office for review.” Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer declined to discuss the allegations, which he termed “a concern.”

The alleged incidents dated to 1995, and it was unclear whether any of the players were on the 1998 national championship team. Three of the five players have transferred, according to ESPN.

Meanwhile, four Tennessee redshirt freshmen, including kick returner and NCAA champion sprinter Leonard Scott, were held out of the Memphis game Saturday and placed on indefinite suspension after an internal probe. The others were Reggie Ridley, Keyon Whiteside and Ryan Rowe.

In other news, cornerback Dwayne Goodrich was charged with disorderly conduct after police say he threatened officers who asked him to leave a convenience store near campus. Police said Goodrich was intoxicated.

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Auburn quarterback Ben Leard will miss at least four weeks because of a separated shoulder suffered in Saturday’s loss to Mississippi and could require season-ending surgery. . . . West Virginia quarterback Marc Bulger will miss at least two games because of a broken right index finger..