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04-22-2006, 12:39 PM
Ex-Tech track athlete makes allegations of payments
BY PATRICK GONZALES
A-J SPORTS EDITOR
Texas Tech athletic department officials were tight-lipped Friday after a former athlete told a newspaper that track and field head coach Wes Kittley provided him with cash payments for room and board.
Former sprinter and hurdler Terry Beard told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an article that appeared in Friday's editions that he received $4,200 in cash payments from Kittley during the 2005 spring semester to pay for the rent of his apartment.
Tech athletic director Gerald Myers told The A-J on Friday that the school is undergoing an internal investigation and that there would be no further comment until the school had a chance to review all allegations.
"There have been some questions raised about the track program, and we are currently looking into those issues," Myers said. "It's hard to say when we'll be done because you never know how long it will take to gather all the information."
Kittley did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone and was expected to travel with the track and field team Friday to Fort Worth for this weekend's Texas Christian Invitational.
Beard, whose hometown is Mount Pleasant, transferred to Tech in January 2005 from Southwestern Christian College in Terrell. He ran the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles for the Red Raiders and was a member of the 1,600 relay. He scored 19 points at the Big 12 outdoor championship, finishing sixth in the 400 (46.80), second in the 400 hurdles (50.64) and running the third leg of the second-place 1,600 relay. Tech won the Big 12 title with a team score of 1491/2, and Nebraska finished second with 136.
Beard returned for his senior year but left the team for good two months into the 2005 fall semester.
Beard told the Star-Telegram that arrangements were made to pay his rent after he learned in January 2005 that his scholarship didn't include room and board. Beard was under the impression that he had received a full scholarship, which according to the NCAA consists of tuition, fees, books and room and board. Most track and field athletes receive partial rather than full scholarship because team are limited to 12.6 scholarships for an entire squad.
Beard left the team after learning of his partial scholarship but returned when Kittley told his mother, Bonita Knight, that Beard's living expenses would be taken care of.
Beard also told the paper that his half of the January rent was delivered to teammate and roommate Michael Mathieu, who still is a member of the Tech squad. Mathieu confirmed to the paper that he received $300 from Kittley to pay for Beard's half of the January rent.
Providing student-athletes with money as a gift or loan is a violation of NCAA rules and can result in various sanctions.
In April 1998, Tech self-imposed numerous sanctions, including scholarship cuts in six sports and a three-year probation, after an internal audit uncovered 76 athletes in eight sports who competed while academically ineligible. A few weeks later, the NCAA Committee on Infractions placed Tech on probation for four years and recommended that the school repay up to 90 percent of revenue generated from the school's 1996 NCAA men's basketball tournament appearance. (Tech ended up repaying the money.) In addition, the committee took away additional scholarships in football, men's basketball, baseball and women's basketball.
Kittley was hired at Tech in July 1999 and has since turned the Red Raiders into one of the top programs in the Big 12 Conference. They had a banner year last season, winning the Big 12 men's outdoor championship, the first team championship in program history. Tech also had 31 athletes qualify for the outdoor national championships, the most in school history and the most of any other program in the country.
BY PATRICK GONZALES
A-J SPORTS EDITOR
Texas Tech athletic department officials were tight-lipped Friday after a former athlete told a newspaper that track and field head coach Wes Kittley provided him with cash payments for room and board.
Former sprinter and hurdler Terry Beard told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an article that appeared in Friday's editions that he received $4,200 in cash payments from Kittley during the 2005 spring semester to pay for the rent of his apartment.
Tech athletic director Gerald Myers told The A-J on Friday that the school is undergoing an internal investigation and that there would be no further comment until the school had a chance to review all allegations.
"There have been some questions raised about the track program, and we are currently looking into those issues," Myers said. "It's hard to say when we'll be done because you never know how long it will take to gather all the information."
Kittley did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone and was expected to travel with the track and field team Friday to Fort Worth for this weekend's Texas Christian Invitational.
Beard, whose hometown is Mount Pleasant, transferred to Tech in January 2005 from Southwestern Christian College in Terrell. He ran the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles for the Red Raiders and was a member of the 1,600 relay. He scored 19 points at the Big 12 outdoor championship, finishing sixth in the 400 (46.80), second in the 400 hurdles (50.64) and running the third leg of the second-place 1,600 relay. Tech won the Big 12 title with a team score of 1491/2, and Nebraska finished second with 136.
Beard returned for his senior year but left the team for good two months into the 2005 fall semester.
Beard told the Star-Telegram that arrangements were made to pay his rent after he learned in January 2005 that his scholarship didn't include room and board. Beard was under the impression that he had received a full scholarship, which according to the NCAA consists of tuition, fees, books and room and board. Most track and field athletes receive partial rather than full scholarship because team are limited to 12.6 scholarships for an entire squad.
Beard left the team after learning of his partial scholarship but returned when Kittley told his mother, Bonita Knight, that Beard's living expenses would be taken care of.
Beard also told the paper that his half of the January rent was delivered to teammate and roommate Michael Mathieu, who still is a member of the Tech squad. Mathieu confirmed to the paper that he received $300 from Kittley to pay for Beard's half of the January rent.
Providing student-athletes with money as a gift or loan is a violation of NCAA rules and can result in various sanctions.
In April 1998, Tech self-imposed numerous sanctions, including scholarship cuts in six sports and a three-year probation, after an internal audit uncovered 76 athletes in eight sports who competed while academically ineligible. A few weeks later, the NCAA Committee on Infractions placed Tech on probation for four years and recommended that the school repay up to 90 percent of revenue generated from the school's 1996 NCAA men's basketball tournament appearance. (Tech ended up repaying the money.) In addition, the committee took away additional scholarships in football, men's basketball, baseball and women's basketball.
Kittley was hired at Tech in July 1999 and has since turned the Red Raiders into one of the top programs in the Big 12 Conference. They had a banner year last season, winning the Big 12 men's outdoor championship, the first team championship in program history. Tech also had 31 athletes qualify for the outdoor national championships, the most in school history and the most of any other program in the country.