Washington Suspends Dollar

Washington assistant basketball coach Cameron Dollar has been suspended without pay for one month for a series of recruiting violations, Athletic Director Barbara Hedges said Wednesday.

Dollar also was banned from off-campus recruiting for the rest of the academic school year and had his pay reduced until April 2003 for violations that included improper evaluations of prospective recruits, phone calls, and face-to-face meetings with prospects and their family members.

“I blew it,” a tearful Dollar said. “I’ve shown the university in a bad light, and for that I’m sorry.”

Hedges said one of the violations alone would not be serious, but the collection of infractions needed to be dealt with quickly.

Dollar, a former UCLA guard, said he knew he was bending the rules, but his eagerness to resurrect the Washington program clouded his judgment.

“This is the first time I’ve ever been questioned about my methods,” Dollar said. “It was a frightful thought.”