((HT: NWA News/Bob Holt))Patrick Beverley ((pictured, thanks NWA Times/Anthony Reyes)) said he and some of his former Arkansas teammates weren't doing their own class papers when he played for the Razorbacks.
"Someone from Arkansas was doing papers, doing me and some of my teammates' papers," Beverley said in a videotaped interview with DraftExpress.com. "Basically, instead of ratting my team out, I just said it was just me. And I was forced to have a year of ineligibility."
Beverley, the 2007 SEC Freshman of the Year, started two seasons at shooting guard for Arkansas before the UA announced on Aug. 8, 2008, that he wouldn't play in the coming season for undisclosed reasons.
After playing professionally in the Ukraine last season, Beverley is back in his native Chicago, where DraftExpress.com - a web site devoted to the NBA Draft - interviewed him last week.
During the interview, which can be seen on YouTube, Beverley was asked why he left Arkansas and played overseas, and he offered the explanation of being caught turning in class work done by someone else.
Arkansas officials never have commented on why Beverley was ruled ineligible for his junior season, citing student privacy laws, which include academic information.
But Beverley hadn't previously said exactly what he did, or that he and his teammates turned in papers written by "someone at Arkansas."
In response to media requests regarding Beverley's latest comments, the UA athletic department released a statement that wasn't attributed to a specific person.
"The university conducted a full and thorough review of the matter and took swift action based on all aspects of its findings," the statement said. "While Patrick Beverley is no longer a student-athlete at the University of Arkansas, the university still may not discuss details regarding his departure from the men's basketball program due to student privacy laws.
"The University of Arkansas remains committed to compliance with all university, Southeastern Conference and NCAA rules and regulations."
Freedom of Information Act requests submitted to Arkansas over the previous several months regarding the men's basketball program have not turned up any correspondence between the UA and SEC or NCAA regarding academic fraud or major rules violations.
Beverley offered different explanations for his departure from Arkansas last fall, when he first told FoxSports.com he "violated NCAA rules and what happened went over the coaches' heads" and that his suspension from play "had nothing to do with academics."
Then Beverley told Sporting-NewsToday.com that a situation regarding a class paper was the reason he wouldn't play for the Razorbacks, though he wasn't as specific as in the DraftExpress. com interview.
Beverley, who is working out in Chicago preparing for the June 25 NBA Draft, said he remains "a big fan of college basketball" and also has good memories of Arkansas.
"I definitely enjoyed Arkansas and I definitely enjoyed my two years playing basketball," he said of his time with the Razorbacks.
Beverley said he wouldn't recommend to other players that they leave college to play overseas, but that the experience had been beneficial to him.
"I think it really helped me mature on and off the court," he told DraftExpress.com. "... I think it helped me put those childish things away, helped me be a better man, and helped me do things the right way and be accountable for anything that I do."
Part 2 can be seen by clicking in black...
No comments:
Post a Comment