paging bamaslammer from vacation...paging bamaslammer from vacation... Two interesting stories for one. Walker walks, Tuberville retained January 16, 2004 Associated Press http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1710710 AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn president William Walker resigned Friday after enduring heavy criticism for the way he botched a football coaching search. Walker's resignation came two days after he met with Gov. Bob Riley to discuss problems facing the school. The 66-year-old Walker, who had been president of the university for 19 months, said he hoped his resignation would "mark the beginning of a new day at Auburn." There was no immediate word on who would succeed him on an interim basis, but executive vice president Donald Large was expected to handle duties until a decision is made. Walker, athletic director David Housel and two trustees secretly flew to meet with Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino on Nov. 20, two days before Auburn played Alabama. Neither Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville nor Louisville officials were informed of the trip, and a firestorm of criticism erupted when it became public. In the end, Tuberville got a one-year extension to stay on as coach. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools also placed Auburn on 12-month probation, saying the university had not prevented a minority of trustees from micromanaging the school. "I am hopeful that my decision to step down as president will mark the beginning of a new day at Auburn and that all members of the Auburn family will put aside their differences and work together to refocus Auburn on its true land grant mission of instruction, outreach and research," Walker said. Once again proves that football is more important than religion, education, and politics in this state (Those wondering why Walker met with the Governor was because Riley is an Auburn Trustee). ------- Now this one is VERRRRRY interesting (if true)... Gallion: Fulmer testified against UA By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor January 16, 2004 http://tidesports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040116/NEWS/401160351/1011 TUCSALOOSA | An attorney representing former University of Alabama assistant football coaches Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams in a $60 million lawsuit against the NCAA and others said Thursday that he had evidence that University of Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer had given confidential testimony regarding the Crimson Tide football program to the NCAA. Tommy Gallion, who represents Cottrell and Williams, said that documents recently released by the NCAA as part of the discovery process in the Memphis racketeering trial of former UA booster Logan Young included interview summaries and transcripts of interviews between Fulmer and NCAA investigator Rich Johanningmeier. The interviews took place in the summer and fall of 2000. Gallion has alleged that Fulmer -- who is not a party to the Cottrell-Williams suit -- was part of a conspiracy that defamed his clients and did “untold harm" to the UA football program. “This is some of the most/sunbelievable information I have ever seen," Gallion said in a radio interview on the Paul Finebaum Show. Gallion said that much of the information that Fulmer relayed to the NCAA was supplied by recruiting analyst Tom Culpepper in “an eight-hour meeting" between the two. Culpepper is a defendant in the suit filed by Cottrell and Williams. The suit, currently before Judge Steve Wilson in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court, alleges that Culpepper was a confidential source who supplied information to the NCAA that was used in the Alabama investigation. “Fulmer urged Culpepper to take his information to the NCAA," Gallion said. “If that's not a conspiracy, I don't know what is." There are no provisions in NCAA rules prohibiting coaches from supplying information on rival schools or doing so under a confidentiality agreement. However, Gallion said that he could prove that “85 percent" of the charges leveled against Alabama were “fabrications." He also said that he had sent information detailing alleged NCAA violations by Fulmer to NCAA and University of Tennessee officials as part of an attempt to reveal “the hypocrisy of Phil Fulmer." Efforts by The Tuscaloosa News to contact Fulmer for comment on Thursday evening were unsuccessful. Alabama was placed on five years probation in February 2002 and was hit with sanctions that included a two-year post-season ban and a loss of 21 scholarships over a three-year period. Last week, UA president Robert Witt received a letter from NCAA Infractions Committee chairman Thomas Yeager informing Witt that UA would receive no further institutional penalties in the case. Young, who was alleged by the NCAA to have paid $115,000 to a Memphis high school coach to secure the signature of prospect Albert Means, was indicted last October by a federal grand jury in Memphis. His trial on racketeering charges, which he has vehemently denied, is scheduled for April. Gallion filed a lawsuit in December 2001 alleging that Cottrell was a victim of a “conspiracy" among Culpepper, UA compliance officials Gene Marsh and Marie Robbins and Tennessee boosters, among others. Williams later joined Cottrell as a plaintiff. I hope this is true; seems as though there is more dirt coming from UT weekly. Of course the NCAA wouldn't give anything back to the UA or any school in this situation. Now, these stories aren't related, but I'm certainly looking forward to the AU/UA basketball match tomorrow. Both teams are mediocre, but a sellout is a sellout.
