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News Nuggets, 05.15.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Beer tabs spell more scrutiny for Colorado coaches

DENVER — University of Colorado football coaches regularly charged the school for beer delivered to their hotel rooms the night before away games, an audit found.

The practice, a violation of state rules, has cost the university at least $1,465 since 1999, according to preliminary results of the internal audit released Thursday.

University officials requested an audit of some football expenses as part of their investigation into a recruiting scandal. A prosecutor has said sex and alcohol were used to lure promising football recruits, and at least eight women have said they were raped by players or recruits since 1997.

Auditors identified room-service beer expenses from 10 hotel invoices. Other hotel bills did not show whether or how much beer was charged to the university, they said.

The report did not say how many invoices were reviewed or how many games were involved.

It was not immediately clear whether the coaches would be asked to reimburse the money. An athletics department spokesman did not answer his telephone after hours Thursday.

The practice did not break NCAA rules because no athletes were involved, the report said.

The audit also found the athletics department bought alcohol for the parents of football recruits attending dinners, a violation of school policy.

The total amount was not listed, but in one case the university reimbursed a dinner host $218.45 for alcohol. The host, who was unaware the practice was prohibited, was told not to bill the school for alcohol in the future, the report said.

No alcohol was served to the recruits in attendance, the auditors said.

Alcohol served to parents at a 2002 recruiting reception was charged to a university credit card, according to the report. Head coach Gary Barnett reimbursed the university through a private football camp he operates, called Buffalo Football Technique School, auditors said. The amount was not listed.

Barnett has been suspended with pay because of comments he made about at least one of the women who said they were raped by football players.

The audit also found an additional $608 in calls by a former assistant football recruiting coordinator to an escort service, dating service and chat line on a university cell phone.

The former recruiter, Nathan Maxcey, has repaid $586 in similar bills discovered earlier and has repaid part of the $608, auditors said.

The audit report will be provided to an independent commission investigating recruiting practices. The commission is working on its final report.

"The university will use the final written report to assist in making the serious decisions that face us in the coming weeks," university spokeswoman Michele Ames said.

Also Thursday, Boulder police said DNA evidence had cleared a second football player in the alleged rape of a woman in August 2002. The first player was cleared in February. The woman was one of the eight who said they had been assaulted by players or recruits since 1997.

Paterno locks in until octogenarian years

STATE COLLEGE — Despite three losing seasons in the last four years, Joe Paterno got a four-year contract extension from Penn State on Thursday that will take him past his 80th birthday.

Penn State went 3-9 last season, the worst record in Paterno's 39 seasons as head coach of the Nittany Lions. It was just the fourth losing season since Paterno joined the coaching staff in 1950.

Penn State didn't win a road game for the first time since the 1936 season, and finished below .500 in the Big Ten (1-7) for the first time since joining the conference for the 1993 season.

"I appreciate this extension and show of confidence in me and our football program," Paterno said in a statement. "I still enjoy coaching and I'm excited about the upcoming season and the incoming recruiting class."

Athletic director Tim Curley said Paterno's decades of success were given more weight than the recent slump.

"We certainly looked overall and very much felt that we wanted him to continue," Curley said. "We're really excited about the current squad members and the incoming group that we've got coming in. We don't think we're that far away."

In a statement, university president Graham Spanier praised Paterno's "success on the field, the graduation rate of his student athletes and the positive impact his players have made on society."

Terms of the deal were not released.

The contract for the 77-year-old Paterno was scheduled to end after the 2004 season and, because of Penn State's recent lack of success, many questioned if the coach would return.

But Paterno has repeatedly said he wants to continue coaching as long as he's healthy.

"Penn State's future is bright and we are determined to have a team which in the future will again be in the mix for a national championship," he said.

Paterno won national championships in 1982 and 1986 and has coached five undefeated teams. His overall record is 339-109-3, and he is second only to Florida State's Bobby Bowden in major-college wins.

Conference USA baseball scores

CONFERENCE USA SCOREBOARD

Friday games:

Southern Mississippi 11, Charlotte 4
Cincinnati at Memphis (Rain)
Tulane 10, Saint Louis 3
East Carolina 7, Texas Christian 2
South Florida 23, UAB 5

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007