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发帖数: 764 | 1 COLUMBUS, Ohio --
A day after coach Jim Tressel's forced resignation for lying about Ohio
State players receiving improper benefits, the focus has shifted to the
investigation of star quarterback Terrelle Pryor and his succession of used
cars.
Now, NBC4 has learned that Pryor's driver's license was suspended less than
two weeks ago, and he is still driving.
According to a report released by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Pryor
is driving on a suspended license.
Video taken by NBC4 Monday night shows Pryor driving as he left the Ohio
State University's Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
NBC4 crews also saw him driving Tuesday.
Documents from the BMV indicated Pryor's license was suspended for no proof
of insurance and is in effect through mid-August.
NBC4 was unable to determine through Franklin County Municipal Court if
Pryor has been granted any driving privileges and the Ohio BMV said it has
no indication that he has driving privileges.
He was stopped earlier this year for running a stop sign, last year for
traveling 94 mph in a 65 mph zone and two years ago, for traveling 99 mph in
a 65 mph zone.
The focus of the NCAA investigation, however, is on the vehicles that
Terrelle Pryor has driven while at Ohio State and whether he received extra
benefits because he's a football player.
The issues at hand include the exchanging of tattoos for sports memorabilia
and athletes driving expensive high-end vehicles.
Pryor's latest vehicle is a 2007 black Nissan 350Z sports car.
According to the Associated Press, the automotive information site Edmunds.
com lists a recent, used 350Z as costing between $16,000 and $27,000.
The Ohio State University confirmed Tuesday that they are working with the
NCAA investigating athlete car ownerships. They are not allowed to accept
special deals on vehicles.
The university has a vehicle registration program for 900 student athletes,
where the university must know what car a student is driving, how much they
paid for it and the identity of the cosigner.
The university tightened restrictions Tuesday on information it releases.
The elevator in the Fawcett Center was closed Tuesday to keep anyone from
accessing the athletic offices.
The salesman who put Pryor behind the wheel of several expensive vehicles
said in a sworn affidavit released by Ohio State on Tuesday that he didn't
offer any special deals to Buckeyes.
"The deals that I did for Ohio State student-athletes were no different than
any of the other 10,000-plus deals that I've done for all my other
customers," Aaron Kniffin said in the statement.
Tressel's 10-year reign as coach of the Buckeyes ended in disgrace as he was
forced to step down for breaking NCAA rules. He knew players received cash
and tattoos for autographs, championship rings and equipment and did not
tell anyone at Ohio State or the NCAA what he knew for more than nine months
. NCAA rules - and Tressel's contract - specify that he must disclose any
and all information about possible violations.
Pryor, the highest profile recruit of Tressel's 25-year coaching career, is
one of five Buckeyes who have already been suspended for the first five
games of the 2011 season for taking money and tattoos from local tattoo-
parlor owner Edward Rife, who pleaded guilty last week to federal drug
trafficking and money-laundering charges.
"I can tell you that obviously you have an open investigation," Ohio State
spokesman Jim Lynch said Tuesday. "The university and the NCAA are working
jointly to review any new allegations that come to light. We're going to
continue to do so until their investigation wraps up."
The Columbus Dispatch has reported that the NCAA and Ohio State are
investigating more than 50 vehicle purchases by Buckeyes players, family
members and friends over the past. Sports Illustrated, citing a source close
to the investigation, reported that Pryor, who will be a senior this fall,
might have driven as many as eight cars in his three years in Columbus.
Pryor's traffic violations occurred while he was driving cars that were
owned by Kniffin or a Columbus used-car dealership where he worked, the
Dispatch has reported. Kniffin, owner Jeff Mauk of Jack Maxton Chevrolet,
Inc., and Jason Gross of Auto Direct Columbus, Inc., each provided
affidavits to Ohio State officials earlier this month.
They said that all transactions associated with an Ohio State athlete were
cleared through Ohio State's NCAA compliance department.
"If the OSU Compliance Department approved the transaction terms, the
transaction would be finalized and the vehicle would be delivered to the
customer," Mauk said in his statement.
Even though the dealerships have dozens of signed jerseys on display in
their showrooms, Kniffin and the dealerships said that was not part of any
deal.
"OSU student-athletes weren't given any enticements to buy the car at my
dealership," Kniffin said. "At no time did memorabilia come into play when
it came time to negotiate a deal or buy a car. I was never given any
memorabilia from a student-athlete in exchange for a car deal."
Late on Monday night, Sports Illustrated reported that the memorabilia-for-
tattoos violations actually stretched back to 2002, Tressel's second season
at Ohio State, and involved at least 28 players - 22 more than the
university has acknowledged. Those numbers include, beyond the six suspended
players, an additional nine current players as well as other former players
whose alleged wrongdoing might fall within the NCAA's four-year statute of
limitations on violations.
After the article's release, athletic director Gene Smith issued a statement.
"During the course of an investigation, the university and the NCAA work
jointly to review any new allegations that come to light, and will continue
to do so until the conclusion of the investigation," he said. "You should
rest assured that these new allegations will be evaluated in exactly this
manner. Beyond that, we will have no further comment."
Smith and Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee declined comment Tuesday when
contacted by The Associated Press.
The turmoil at Ohio State comes at the same time PGA Tour pros are arriving
at Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village Golf Club in suburban Dublin for
Thursday's first round of the Memorial Tournament.
Nicklaus, a standout golfer at Ohio State while Woody Hayes was the football
coach in the early 1960s, was asked about Tressel's downfall.
"Well, obviously the coverup was far worse than the act," Nicklaus said
Tuesday. "And once you got the coverup, it became a situation where Jim had
to say some things that turned out to be that weren't exactly truthful. And
so that's where he got himself in trouble."
Nicklaus said that now that the NCAA is continuing to investigate, almost
any result is possible.
"Once one of these things happens, by the time they get through digging they
're going to find whether somebody had a hangnail someplace or not, whether
somebody replaced it improperly," Nicklaus said. |
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