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News Nuggets, 02.03.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

'Bama booster convicted in Means recruiting scandal

MEMPHIS — A federal jury convicted millionaire businessman Logan Young on Wednesday of paying $150,000 to get a top football recruit for Alabama.

The jury deliberated for about 5 1/2 hours before returning the verdict.

Young, 64, was convicted of conspiracy to commit racketeering (by breaking state bribery laws), crossing state lines to commit racketeering and arranging bank withdrawals to cover up a crime.

Young could receive prison time and a large fine. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, but federal guidelines would call for a much lighter sentence.

The highly publicized recruitment case coincidentally ended up in jurors' hands on college football's National Signing Day.

Defense attorneys used closing arguments to highlight the chief accuser's history of lying and the legal standard for ``reasonable doubt.''

But prosecutors said bank and phone records bolstered the testimony of their lead witness, former Trezevant High School head coach Lynn Lang.

Lang testified that Young bribed him with a series of cash payments below the $10,000 threshold for IRS reporting to get highly recruited defensive lineman Albert Means to sign with Alabama in 2000.

Lang told jurors he got money from two other colleges, Georgia and Kentucky, and offers of cash, jobs or free law school from Arkansas, Memphis, Mississippi, Michigan State and Tennessee.

Former coaches Rip Scherer of Memphis and Jim Donnan of Georgia, and former Alabama assistant Ivy Williams testified for the defense that Lang was lying.

Lang has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the case and is cooperating with prosecutors as he awaits sentencing.

Defense lawyer James Neal told the jury that Lang lied about Means' recruitment to the NCAA, Memphis school officials and others before testifying against Young.

Lead prosecutor Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Godwin introduced telephone records from June 2000 to February 2001 showing 49 calls between phones belonging to Lang and Young.

He also put on testimony about a series of cash withdrawals from Young's bank accounts, some only a day apart and totaling more than $270,000, and deposits by Lang of more than $47,000.

Means, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, also testified for the prosecution. He admitted that someone else took his college entrance exam for him, an idea that Lang said came from Williams, and that he let his high school coach pick his college for him.

Means spent a year at Alabama before transferring to Memphis when reports of payoffs to Lang became public.

Alabama's recruitment of Means became part of an NCAA investigation that led to sanctions in 2002, depriving the Crimson Tide of scholarships and bowl eligibility.

Bug rolling through Tar Heel hoops roster

CHAPEL HILL — Roy Williams didn't have to say he felt sick Wednesday. The weary look on the North Carolina coach's face said enough.

Williams is the third member of the No. 2 Tar Heels to fall ill in the last week. Senior Jackie Manuel battled a bug over the weekend, while freshman Marvin Williams missed practice Monday because he felt sick.

The coach said he was battling a 102-degree fever as North Carolina prepared for Thursday's game against North Carolina State.

``Today I'm coaching the team from a distance,'' Williams said.

A team spokesman said Williams apparently has a viral illness. Williams said he began feeling sick late Monday, but made a recruiting trip the next day.

The coach is just the latest victim of a bug that has turned Carolina blue to green.

On Saturday, Manuel vomited in a trash can at halftime at Virginia and missed the second half of the 110-76 win. Then, Marvin Williams began feeling ill, although he is recovering and appears set to play against the Wolfpack.

Now Roy Williams is battling what he called ``The Williams Strain,'' saying he thinks he might have picked it up from his 6-foot-9 freshman.

The illness has yet to befall senior Jawad Williams, who leads the team in scoring with a 16-point average. But the team's third Williams is taking no chances, staying away from his sick mates.

North Carolina (17-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) has won 17 of 18 games, and swept last season's series against the Wolfpack (13-7, 3-4).

Cards gain control of first place from Bearcats

LOUISVILLE — Freshman forward Juan Palacios scored 17 points and banked in an unlikely 3-pointer to seal Louisville's 77-70 victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday night.

Taquan Dean scored 19, and the 6-foot-8 Palacios shot 8-for-10 and grabbed 10 rebounds for the No. 9 Cardinals (19-3, 7-1 Conference USA), who have won eight in a row and 13 of their last 14.

Louisville led 68-64 entering the final 90 seconds of a game pitting a teams that were tied for first place in Conference USA and that brandished the league's top two field-goal percentage defenses.

With the shot clock ticking under 10 seconds, Louisville guard Brandon Jenkins got caught in a double team near halfcourt. Palacios came to help and when Jenkins leaped and passed him the ball, Palacios turned and hit the straight-on bank shot from five feet behind the 3-point line.

Palacios had made only 16 3-point shots all season coming into the game.

Louisville went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the final minute to keep No. 18 Cincinnati at bay.

Eric Hicks matched a career high with 21 points to lead Cincinnati (17-4, 6-2), which lost to Louisville for the sixth time in the last 10 meetings between the rivals.

The Bearcats missed 13 of their first 18 shots in the opening 10 minutes, but trailed only 15-12 because of seven Louisville turnovers.

Louisville led 25-24 when a 3-pointer by Dean started a 7-0 spurt.

Palacios' steal and a fast-break layup in the first minute of the second half gave Louisville its biggest lead at 40-31.

James White then scored in the lane to trigger a 9-0 Bearcats' run.

The Cardinals rebuilt a four-point lead, but Francisco Garcia, Louisville's leading scorer, got his fourth foul and left the game with 9:48 remaining. The Bearcats couldn't take advantage, though, going four minutes without a field goal.

Without Garcia, Dean became Louisville's go-to guy and sank two 3-pointers to push the lead to 64-55. Garcia returned with 3:59 left and the Cardinals ahead 66-60, but he fouled out a minute later, clipping Armein Kirkland's arm on a layup. Kirkland hit two free throws to trim Cincinnati's deficit to 67-64.

A free throw by Jenkins with 2:08 remaining put the Cardinals up 68-64.

The Bearcats held Garcia to 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting, but they shot poorly themselves, going 23-of-61 from the field (38 percent) and 4-of-18 from 3-point range (22 percent).

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:21 PM