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NCAA puts Auburn on probation BY JOHN ZENOR TH £ ASSOCIATED PliKSS AUBURN, ALA. — Auburn’s bas ketball program was put on two years’ probation on Tuesday, with the NCAA cutting one scholarship but clearing the university of ma jor rules violations. Auburn was exonerated of ac cusations involving large sums of money and expensive cars given to high school prospects Chadd Moore and Jackie Butler. But the NCAA found that an AAU coach, Komara, was acting as a rep ntative of Auburn when ar ed to wire $3,125 for Butler and get a 1996 Dodge Stratus for Moore. Komara is believed to be the first summer league basketball coach designated a representative of a school, said Thomas Yeager, chairman of the NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions. The university, which denied the major accusations, already had imposed its own penalties, in cluding tl)e loss of one scholarship for the 2004-05 season. The NCAA cut that scholarship for 2005-06, too, but did not ban postseason play or televised games. “I think it’s always disap pointing to be called to task by any organization in which you have violated established regu lations,” Auburn interim President Ed Richardson said. “But I think that it was clearly identified that the sanctions that were provided, we feel were jus tified.” Hal Baird, athletics assistant to the president, said the sanctions were severe enough to invoke a clause that adds an eighth year to the contract of new coach Jeff Lebo. The NCAA cleared Auburn as sistant coach Shannon Weaver of offering $50,000 and a car to Moore’s mother. Auburn also was found innocent on charges of of fering Butler $70,000 and a car worth more than $40,000. “The committee found that much of the information associat ed with these allegations was in conflict and thus was not suffi cient to support findings,” Yeager said. Neither player made official visits to Auburn, and the univer sity had maintained that neither was offered a scholarship. Both were sophomores at the time of the alleged offers. Auburn provided records to the NCAA that the university main tains show Weaver was actually under the care of a dentist in Scottsboro when he allegedly made the offer to Moore’s mother, Clara Moore. Coach Cliff Ellis, who was not implicated by the NCAA, was fired March 18 and replaced by former Chattanooga coach Jeff Lebo. Moore and Butler played sum mer ball for Komara, who the NCAA alleged was a representa tive of Auburn and was involved in improper recruitment. Yeager said there was ample ev idence to show Auburn coaches’ contact with Komara surpassed their relationships with others in volved in recruiting. Among the examples he cited were telephone records showing Auburn coaches made more than 1,100 calls to Komara and fewer than 200 to oth ers involved with recruiting. Yeager also said Auburn coaches helped make hotel and airline reservations that Komara paid for. Although the NCAA acknowl edges high school and summer league coaches play a special role in college recruiting, Yeager said, Komara’s actions exceeded that role. Mike Walker, a Mississippi sports agent, made the initial al legations in March 2001. EC. News. Notes Harrison, Campbell honored by the SEC The Southeastern conference announced Monday that Florida’s Ben Harrison and USC’s Matt Campbell have been named SEC player and pitcher of the week, respectively. Harrison, a senior outfielder from Key West, Fla., went 7-for 13 in Florida’s four games last week. He also notched three RBIs and scored two runs in the Gators’ sweep of divisioh rival Vanderbilt. Harrison had hits in every game last week, including •iturday’s 4-2 win in which he ent 3-for-3 with an RBI double. Campbell was impressive in his Sunday start against the Crimson Tide. The junior lefty from Gray Court pitched a ca reer-high 10 shutout innings in a 1-0 victory for the Gamecocks. The complete game marked the second for Campbell on the sea son and was also the longest out ing for not only a USC pitcher but any SEC pitcher this season. USC’s ace did not allow a runner to advance to third base and re tired 10 consecutive batters af ter the fifth inning. SEC baseball draws over 1 million fans Setting the standard in col lege baseball, the SEC has once again drawn more than one mil lion people to its games this sea son. The conference owns virtu ally all the regular season, con ference tournament and NCAA tournament attendance records. This season marked the earliest the SEC has ever eclipsed the one million mark. Leading the SEC in atten dance is the LSU Tigers, who av erage just under 8,000 fans per game and have attracted 191,693 people to their facility this year. USC ranks fifth on the SEC list, averaging over 3,600 fans per game with a total of over 102,000 fans on the season. Overall, the conference averages 3,270 fans per game and now totals 1,013,667 fans for the season. Hillyard CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 ball began in both the college and pro forums. The misfortunes of the Gamecocks again brought speculations of a chicken curse and left us all saying once again, “Wait ‘till next year!” Tom Brady and the seemingly unbeatable Patriots roared through the play offs only to face off against the lo cally loved Carolina Panthers. The two starless teams would continue to amaze in what was one of the epic Super Bowls of all time, with Adam Vinatieri’s mag ical foot once again getting the job done for New England. How can you not love a guy that has gone from being a sixth round pick to being a two-time Super Bowl MVP. Tom Brady estab lished himself as someone who could be the next Joe Montana and finally gave the whiners in Boston something to smile about. Stealing the hearts of Gamecocks everywhere was the surprising men’s basketball team, which lit a fire under a nap ping program. Through the pas sion of Dave Odom, the leader ship of Mike Boynton and the fire of budding stars such as Renaldo Balkman, the team rallied to an NCAA tournament appearance for the first time in six years and have fans all excited about the fu ture of Carolina basketball. After such a great year in sports, we will end it on a very sad, yet uplifting note. We all follow our teams with such passion that we don’t show in any other part of our lives. We have become numb »to the outside world and all its ef fects. Now, Pat Tillman, one of sport’s own, has made us all real ize how lucky we are to be Americans and have the luxury of having such an amazing freedom. Tillman realized what so many of us can’t, that sports is a secondary priority and in no way measures •: / up to defending freedom. In a world where we have fu ture millionaires complaining about what team they will play for, we should remember how ~ lucky we are to have sports at all and we should remember all the people who have given their lives to allow us to have such a privi lege. We have had an amazing year in sports, and thanks to peo ple like Pat Tillman and all our other soldiers abroad and at home, we will have many more in the future. U.S. Olympic hoops short-handed BY CHRIS SHERIDAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Shaquille O’Neal shook his head, frowned slightly and shrugged when asked whether he’ll play at the Athens Olympics. “I’m still not sure,” the Los Angeles Lakers’ center said. He’.s not the only one. There are more questions than answers right now for the USA Basketball selection committee, with only six players considered locks to show up in Greece: Jermaine O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Mike Bibby and Richard Jefferson. Among those wavering are Jason Kidd, Karl Malone, Elton Brand, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Vince Carter already ruled himself out, and Kobe Bryant’s availability hinges on the sched ule for his sexual assault trial in Colorado. “It’s not troubling, but it is what it is,” Stu Jackson, chair man of the USA Basketball selec tion committee, said Tuesday. Among the reasons for the hedging are nagging injuries, fears of terrorism and family plans, including a wedding and a birth. Shaquille O’Neal said his par ticipation in the Aug. 13-29 Olympics will depend largely on how far the Lakers advance in the NBA playoffs, and Minnesota’s Garnett sent a simi lar message to USA Basketball of ficials. The American team will hold training camp in Florida in late July before traveling to three cities — Cologne, Belgrade and Istanbul—for pre-Olympic exhi bitions. “You’d better be ready to play 8-on-5 in Belgrade,” quipped Kidd, counting the two referees and the crowd as the three extra opponents. The Nets’ All-Star point guard has said his participation will de pend on his left knee, which could require surgery after the NBA playoffs. Malone and Brand also have injury concerns, and Malone has indicated he’s not en thusiastic about traveling to cities where anti-American sen timent has grown. Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, who will play for China, shrugged off a question Sunday about security concerns in Athens, implying he’s satisfied with arrangements at the ath letes’ village. The U.S team, citing logistical reasons, will use Olympic hous ing being provided on cruise ships in Piraeus harbor. Allen, expecting a child in , September, has since said he is strongly considering relinquish ing his roster spot. That would , deprive the Americans of their . best pure outside shooter. American teams are 109-2 in the Olympics, with losses in 1972 and 1988. These days, the level of compe tition no longer tilts heavily to ward the Americans — even at full strength. A U.S. team of NBA play ers lost to Argentina, Yugoslavia and Spain at the 2002 World Championships, and the American team that won the Olympic gold medal in Sydney needed a last-second miss by Lithuania to survive its semifinal game. “The selection committee will continue to forge ahead as quickly as possible,” Jackson said. “The ' • objective remains putting the best possible Olympic team together to win the gold medal, and we re main committed to that objective.” m ‘ % -. jifeafc(Mpl i ' It—-^"!J ; /-■-I-I-I-|-r*T-I-I-I-I-I-I-I i a