jaron

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SoCalHoops College News

Jaron Rush: Suspended,
Investigated, & In Doubt. . .--(Dec. 13, 1999)

Talk about a strange turn of events. Just when UCLA's Steve Lavin must have thought the program had been through everything it could possibly have been through over the last two years, the Bruins are hit by some sort of voodoo curse: Players get banged up, two are out with concussions, a slam dunk contest results in an arm injury, grades take their toll on yet another player, one has bad feet and can't play, another has tendinitis. . . UCLA struggles against a thrown together California All-Star team, and limps through the preseason with only 9 scholarship players available, sometimes only 6 who can suit up for games. The Bruins can't even find enough healthy guys to scrimmage against each other, and when they do, they're out killing each other in practice.

What's going on here? The Bruins have managed a couple of huge blowouts against patsy opponents in the first few games, but then the hammer really falls this weekend: Jaron Rush, one of the keys to this young and struggling Bruin offense is suspended from the team "indefinitely."

The No. 11 ranked Bruins (now No. 17 following the weekend) promptly run out on the court the next day and embarrass everyone in the house. Even visiting Gonzaga, the No. 20 team in the nation, is embarrassed, not about the game, but they're embarrassed for UCLA. The Bruins are held to the lowest point total ever in the history of Pauley Pavilion. Local papers and internet message boards are pounding the drums, head are gonna roll . . . . everyone is mad. Fair or not, Lavin's honeymoon is over, and the natives are getting restless.

At least that's what the natives are saying.

But what do they know?

We wanted to recap what's happened in the past three days which has brought UCLA to this sorry state of affairs. And don't get us wrong. It was only one game, and it's just the preseason, and life will go on. . . heck, John Wooden had 17 seasons at UCLA before he hung his first banner, before he got everyone to buy into the high post offense, so even if we're not on the honeymoon with Lavin any longer, that doesn't mean it's time to see a good divorce lawyer. Marriages have their ups and downs, and there's no denying this is a downer. . . .

But enough. What happened last week to Jaron, and what will it mean for his future, and the future of the Bruins? Here's a recap: Let's start with the official UCLA press release on the Jaron Rush situation. Here's what the SID's office released on Friday:

JaRon Rush Suspended by UCLA

Sophomore forward will not play until investigation is complete
Dec. 10, 1999

Sophomore basketball forward JaRon Rush has been suspended from competition by UCLA, Director of Athletics Peter T. Dalis announced today.

UCLA is currently investigating a possible NCAA violation by Rush. As part of the process, UCLA has suspended Rush from competition. His future status will be determined when UCLA concludes its investigation. "We recently were made aware of a possible violation by JaRon and are currently gathering information regarding the situation," said Dalis. "We feel it is in the best interest of the University to withhold him from games while we investigate the matter. When we have concluded our investigation, we will determine our next step." Dalis indicated that there is no timetable for the conclusion of the investigation.

The press release was blunt and to the point, but didn't really tell us much of anything. The local media has been a bit more helpful, and we've also been able to resort to various sources who are "close to the program" (or who are close to those who are close to the program. . . . well, you get the idea. . . it's not like we're going to get the story from Dalis right now about what was said in the interview with Jaron on Friday afternoon, but it's at least a bit better than a sharp stick in the eye).

Those sources are telling us that it's unlikely that Jaron will return anytime soon. Certainly not for the next game against DePaul. Maybe not by the Hawaii trip. And maybe not ever.

The bottom line seems to be that Jaron evidently gave sworn testimony during a grand jury proceeding in Missouri which may have implicated him, and which allegedly connected him with receiving something of value (cash? clothing? meals? yet made clear) from an as-yet unidentified Los Angeles "sports agent" with "ties" to one Myron Piggie, Jaron's former travel team coach.

Of course, not only was Mr. Piggie Jaron's former coach while Jaron attended Pembroke Hill Academy, but he was also the coach of Kareem Rush, Jaron's brother who is now at Missouri. UCLA teammate Earl Watson also played for that same travel team, the CMH 76'er's, as did Korleone Young, who was drafted in the NBA draft two years ago out of high school, and so did a lot of other guys.

According to a report this morning in the LA Times, UCLA has reported the possible violations to the Pacific 10 office (as required) but is thus far handling the investigation in-house, even though it has the option to call the conference office for assistance. The final results of the investigation will be forwarded to the Pac-10, which can accept whatever penalties the school may impose or choose to stiffen any sanctions. Penalties range from sitting out one or more games to being excluded from further participation in NCAA sports, which would also result in the loss (or non-renewal) of his scholarship, which is renewable each year (all scholarships, or "grants in aid" are only year to year, and despite what you may hear to the contrary from other gurus, there's no such thing as a multi-year scholarship. . . the coaches can verbally agree that they will recommend renewing, which in most cases is the same as a virtual guarantee, but it's not legally binding. . . ).

The OC Register and the Times' stories also indicated that Rush's teammates knew nothing of the actual details of why Rush is being investigated. They did express support for Rush and say they have no knowledge of the issues involved. That includes guard Earl Watson, a friend for almost 10 years. Watson basically told reporters he hadn't talked to Jaron about the situation. Whether that's accurate or not, the fact of Jaron's absence and the potential implications of Piggie's involvment have obviously affected just about every aspect of the Bruin's play on the court, even if no one wants to admit it on the record. Obviously Earl was bothered by the situation, as evidenced by his almost record turnover performance on Saturday.

So who is this guy Piggie? How serious might the situationo be as it relates to Jaron Rush? Well, according to several sources, Jaron allegedly told Dalis that he did receive something of value from an as yet unidentified agent. Whether that report turns out to be true, and if so, how much was received, is what Dalis' internal investigation will try to get to the bottom of. Jim Downs has reported in a BruinHoopReport audio report, that any alleged amount which Jaron might have received is rumored to be "ridiculously small" and that the typical penalty for such a violation of the NCAA rules (which prohibit players from accepting money from an agent or otherwise establishing relationships with professional agents which might jeopardize amateur status) "is usually restitution." We'll see, and anything more than mere speculation at this point will either have to await the outcome of the investigation or the release of Jaron's testimony before the grand jury (which is something that's not likely to happen any time soon).

But despite any attempts to downplay the situation, the fact remains that this is a very serious matter, one which could affect not just Jaron's season, but his remaining college career. According to published reports in the Orange County Register, the Daily News and the Kansas City Star, Jaron was subpoenaed to testify at a grand jury proceeding convened in Missouri last month for the purpose of investigating Piggie, Jaron's former AAU coach. According to those published reports, the subject of the grand jury investigation was to determine whether Piggie engaged fraud, money-laundering, income tax evasion, and/or other unspecified violations of law.

How did this all come to light, at least as far as JaRon is concerned? According to a report in the Kansas City Star, "an FBI representative told UCLA athletic director Pete Dalis last week that JaRon, a sophomore, may have admitted he violated NCAA rules while testifying to a grand jury in Kansas City investigating Piggie." Mike DeArmond, the Kansas City Star reporter working on the story interviewed Jaron's brother, Kareem who told him he had heard that whatever trouble JaRon was in may have had something to do with Myron Piggie. "It was something Piggie probably did to my brother," said Kareem, who talked to his mother about the situation but didn't know the specifics of the problems. "I heard the rumor about a sports agent, accepting money. Hopefully it's not to that extent. I don't know. But I'm definitely going to find out after I get home."

And the Orange County Register reported Sunday that the grand jury is investigating Piggie on suspicion of income-tax evasion, fraud and money laundering. JaRon was already questioned about Piggie last season by FBI agents and was excused from team practices Nov. 13-17 to appear in Kansas City for "personal reasons," UCLA officials said at the time.

So who's Myron Piggie?

Well, we don't want to rehash old dirt or bring up yesterday's old news, but a lot of people are not very familiar with Mr. Myron Piggie. We had some information based on our own observations of the summer circuit and recruiting: Piggie was a club coach who had some major financial backing several years ago, put together one of the most talent-laden summer teams in recent memory (which really never had much success from a win-loss point of view, but anyone who knows the summer circuit knows that's not what it's all about anyway. . . it's exposure, and these guys got exposure. . . ). Myron also had a son, Myron Piggie, Jr., who was on the team with the Rush brothers, Korleone Young, Watson and others. Myron, Jr., attempted to walk on at UNLV, but didn't make it. Where he is currently is unknown. But it's Myron, Sr., who is the subject and we wanted to know more, so we went looking for information. Isn't the Internet a wonderful thing? Amazing what you can find if you really look. Here's just a little bit of what we found:

In an article published August 16, 1998, a year and a half ago, in the Hampton Roads, VA DailyExpress.com entitled "If the Shoe Fits", an expose about the influence of shoe companies and street agents on high school recruiting, the authors, Dave Fairbank and David Teel, described Spike Lee's movie "He Got Game", and then followed up with this almost prophetic paragraph:

Kareem Rush, a rising senior at Pembroke Hills High in Kansas City, Mo., doesn't need a movie to teach him the ropes. He is a national-caliber prospect, and his brother JaRon signed a basketball scholarship last spring with UCLA. ``Everybody wants to get a piece of the money,'' Rush said at Nike's camp. ``Politics are involved in everything, including summer basketball. The grown-ups are taking advantage of the kids.''

The real story in the article "If the Shoe Fits" was not so much about Rush, but about one shoe company's relationship with Myron Piggie:

Each [Nike and adidas] accuses the other of using money and product to lure campers. Each ascribes nefarious motives to the other. And each sucked up to Myron Piggie.

Piggie coaches a Nike-sponsored summer team in Kansas City, and last year his roster included two of the nation's most-touted prospects - Korleone Young and JaRon Rush. Rather than concede Young and Rush to Nike's summer camp, Vaccaro, a former Nike executive, offered cash and merchandise to Piggie, Raveling said.

Raveling, a former head coach at Washington State, Iowa and Southern California, countered with a two-year consultant's contract that pays Piggie $50,000 annually, according to a source. Young and Rush attended Nike's camp. The bidding for Young and Rush did not violate NCAA rules. But many college coaches question the ethics involved, especially in light of Piggie's past.

In 1987, Piggie was charged with assault and conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Kansas City. The assault, police said, occurred when Piggie attempted to flee a drug bust and his car ran over a federal drug agent, breaking the agent's leg. In a deal with prosecutors, Piggie pleaded guilty to one narcotics charge and the assault charge was dropped. He served 120 days in a halfway house and was placed on five years' probation, according to U.S. District Court records.

Federal authorities requested revocation of Piggie's probation in 1989, when he was wounded in a shootout with two off-duty Kansas City police officers outside a bar. A federal judge denied the request. ``Nike felt the statute of limitations had run out on that,'' Raveling said of sponsoring a coach with a criminal record.

We have no idea where the JaRon Rush situation will ultimately lead, and certainly there will be more interesting news which is bound to break as this story unfolds (like the identity of the alleged, unidentified LA sports agent).

Hopefully it will leads nowhere, at least from JaRon's point of view.

Hopefully, even if some gratuity was received, JaRon won't be punished too severely for what might have been just a stupid mistake, a youthful indiscretion.

Hopefully the people who tried to exploit a young man and who may have ruined his chances for a college education and a successful college career will be the ones who suffer instead.

The world doesn't often work that way, and it's usually the bad guys who walk and the foolish who are made to pay the price.

Let's just hope JaRon isn't one of those who have to pay that price, because it's one that could involve the rest of his life.