Minnesota Players Reinstated

Minnesota players who improperly used an athletic department long-distance access code have repaid the school for the phone calls and all but one are back on the team.

Coach Glen Mason said 12 of the 13 players involved in the access code abuse will travel today to Miami, where Minnesota plays North Carolina State in the Micronpc.com Bowl next Thursday. Mason said one of the 13 had been “eliminated” from going to the bowl for other reasons.

The 13 players were suspended Wednesday after a preliminary investigation into the improper charges found that between Aug. 29 and Nov. 29, the players and five other students made more than 1,500 improper calls costing more than $1,600. The players were suspended until they repaid about $420 in charges.

*

A new name has emerged in Georgia’s search for a successor to Jim Donnan, who was fired on Dec. 4. The Athens Daily News/Banner Herald reported that former Auburn Coach Pat Dye acknowledged talking with Athletic Director Vince Dooley about the job. Dye, 61, coached Auburn to four SEC titles before leaving in 1992 and was an All-American offensive lineman at Georgia in 1959 and 1960. Other candidates on Georgia’s list reportedly include Green Bay Packer receivers coach Ray Sherman, Miami Dolphin offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, Southern Mississippi Coach Jeff Bower and Florida State offensive coordinator Mark Richt.

Mississippi State All-America cornerback Fred Smoot has been declared academically ineligible and will not play in the Independence Bowl against Texas A&M; on New Year’s Eve. . . . Texas A&M; offensive tackle Michael Mahan will leave the team because of problems with his heart. The 6-foot-6, 293-pound sophomore, who started eight games at left tackle, has undergone two surgeries to correct a heart irregularity known as Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome.

Tennessee will be without three players for the Cotton Bowl because they didn’t pass at least six hours of classes, the minimum required by the SEC to participate in postseason competition. Senior defensive end DeAngelo Lloyd, a starter, and reserves Bernard Gooden, a senior offensive tackle, and Robert Stolarick, a freshman snapper, won’t make the trip to Dallas. . . . Marquis Turner, a freshman linebacker at Texas Tech, was suspended for the galleryfurniture.com bowl and the 2001 season. The school said Turner was suspended so he could sort “out personal problems.”

Marvin Minnis, Florida State’s All-American receiver who was ruled academically ineligible and will not play in the Orange Bowl, had met NCAA eligibility requirements but did not meet school standards. Minnis failed three of four classes this semester and didn’t keep his cumulative grade-point average above the school-required 2.0 on a 4.0 scale. Minnis, a criminology major, took his finals earlier this month, then walked through graduation ceremonies last Saturday. . . . Former Alabama defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson was named coach at The Citadel. Johnson, 49, replaces Don Powers, who was fired after consecutive 2-9 seasons.