By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff
The saga is over.
More than seven months after the NCAA began its investigation,
the doors have closed on former Bruin forward JaRon Rush’s
student-athlete reinstatement case.
In the last step of the case, the NCAA ruled that because UCLA
used Rush, an ineligible player, during the 1999 NCAA Tournament,
the school must return 45 percent ($45,321) of its earnings from
its participation in the Tournament, in which the Bruins suffered a
first round loss to Detroit Mercy. In addition, UCLA’s
performance in the 1999 Tournament is deleted.
“We were aware that this was the last step of the JaRon
Rush case and that we would have to return a portion of our share
from the 1999 NCAA Tournament,” said UCLA Athletic Director
Peter Dalis in a statement. “The university had no knowledge
of JaRon’s actions which caused him to be ineligible, and the
cabinet agreed, requiring us to return just 45 percent of the money
we received by participating in the 1999 Tournament.
“We now have closure on the matter and can move on,”
he added.
Because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which
protects the privacy of student-athletes, NCAA spokesman Jane
Jankowski was prohibited from discussing Rush’s case, but she
did state that she sees no more sanctions for UCLA in the
future.
“We don’t expect further penalties for the
university,” she said.
The NCAA began investigating Rush on Dec. 10, 1999 when UCLA
suspended him for possible NCAA violations.
Rush has since decided to forgo his final two years of
eligibility and enter the 2000 NBA draft.
Then on Feb. 1, Rush was suspended for 44 games by the NCAA
after its discovery that the forward took $6,125 from his summer
league coach during high school. After a UCLA appeal, the
suspension was reduced by 20 games.
In its most recent and final ruling regarding Rush, the NCAA
could have ruled for UCLA to repay as much as 90 percent of its
earnings ($90,720) if it felt that the school knew Rush was
ineligible at the time.
“The precedent in these types of situations is if the
school did not know nor should have known about the
student-athlete’s participation in activities that could
render the individual ineligible, the penalty is 45 percent,”
Jankowski said. “If the school knew or should have known,
then it most likely would have been higher.”
The NCAA also found Texas Tech and Arizona guilty for using
ineligible players and ruled for both of the schools to return
money.
Texas Tech must return $282,800 for using ineligible players
during the 1996 Tournament, while Arizona must return $45,321
because former Wildcat guard Jason Terry took more than $11,000
after his junior year in high school and as a senior.