Report: Webber’s Father Took Gifts

The father of former Michigan basketball star Chris Webber, now with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, acknowledged before a federal grand jury that he accepted gifts from a banned booster, his attorney said in a court document.

It was the first time Mayce Webber Jr. acknowledged taking anything from Eddie Martin, who pleaded guilty in May to money laundering and admitted loaning $616,000 to four former Michigan players, the Detroit News reported Wednesday.

Mayce Webber Jr., his sister-in-law, Charlene Johnson, and his son were indicted in September on federal charges of conspiring to obstruct justice and making a false statement to a grand jury. All have pleaded not guilty. Each charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Mayce Webber Jr. “acknowledged that Martin had given some gifts to him, and Martin put a hotel bill on a charge card and was paid back,” his attorney, Robert Morgan, said in a court motion filed last month. The motion sought dismissal of the indictment.

A booster paying for a room is a violation of NCAA rules.

Prosecutors said Martin gave the Webber family $280,000 from 1988 to 1993.

A federal judge in Chicago has ordered eight companies and three people to pay more than $506 million to 46 male college athletes who were secretly videotaped in locker rooms, restrooms and showers.

The videotapes were sold through Internet sites advertising “hot younger dudes.”

The decision grants each of 46 athletes $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.

The lawsuit alleged invasion of privacy, unlawful use of the plaintiffs’ images for monetary gain, and mail and wire fraud.

The lawsuit says the anonymous plaintiffs are past or present athletes at Northwestern, Illinois, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Indiana, Penn, Iowa State and Michigan State.

The judgment was entered against Franco Production, Franko Productions, Rodco, Hidvidco, Hidvidco-Atlas Video Release, AMO Video, Atlas Video, Gamport/Earthlink, and individuals Daniel Franco, George Jachem and R.D. Couture. The court clerk’s office said no attorneys had appeared on behalf of the defendants since at least 2000.

College Sports

Universities could find it easier to comply with Title IX under proposals that a federal commission began considering.

Title IX, the law that requires gender equity in college athletics, has greatly increased opportunities for women in sports in the last 30 years. But critics say the law discriminates against men, and schools complain that the government doesn’t enforce the law evenly and has failed to provide enough guidance on how to comply.

Meeting in Philadelphia, the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics began formulating recommendations for making the law clearer and more flexible. The panel will vote on the recommendations in January and submit them to Education Secretary Rod Paige, who has final say on whether any are implemented.

Miscellany

Ian Thorpe of Australia, who won six gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and five at the Pan Pacific Championships, was selected swimmer of the year by Swimming World magazine.

Olympic silver medalist Isolde Kostner of Italy bruised her shoulder and hip when she crashed while training for a World Cup downhill race at Lake Louise, Canada, and was airlifted to a hospital.

Doctors said Kostner, 27, had symptoms of a concussion.