Rush Apparently Faces a Longer Wait

Hopes by the Bruins and JaRon Rush that the penalties in his case could be announced as soon as this week have instead been replaced by an NCAA decision to re-interview some of the figures in the investigation, possibly putting Rush in limbo for another couple of weeks.

The original timetable was never definite, only based on the way the NCAA has handled such decisions in the past. Now, however, the governing body is apparently interpreting some rules differently than the school, prompting NCAA investigators to want to speak themselves to several of the people involved in the six-week-old case. That includes Rush, who left practice early last Tuesday to speak with investigators by phone.

Also, UCLA sent a supplemental report to the NCAA last Friday, in addition to the original findings from the university probe that were forwarded Jan. 13. The Bruins hoped the NCAA would announce the penalties against Rush--there is no indication of any impending discipline for the school--within a week or two, but now are uncertain when a decision will come.

“It’s a very complicated case,” Athletic Director Pete Dalis said. “The most complicated case I’ve ever been involved in. . . . The institution and the NCAA can’t agree on some of the facts.”

The disagreements likely center on Rush’s involvement with former summer-league coach Myron Piggie and longtime friend and supporter Tom Grant and how much of those relationships constituted improper acts. Also at issue are the dealings between Rush and agent Jerome Stanley, with Rush admitting he accepted money from Stanley and Stanley denying the accusations.

“It’s OK,” Rush, who has been practicing with the Bruins, said of the delay. “I’m still having fun with my boys, playing every day. It’s been long enough already. Just another couple days won’t break me.”

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