UGA aware of accusations in Columbus that could affect eligibility of Jarvis Jones, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
A police investigation in Columbus has uncovered alleged illegal activity in the parks and recreation department there that may or may not affect the eligibility of Georgia football player Jarvis Jones and basketball signee Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported Sunday that an unauthorized bank account controlled by the parks director and one of his associates was used to pay for flights to and from Los Angeles for Jones while he was playing football for Southern Cal, and for the cell phone bill of Caldwell-Pope’s mother. Both Jones and Caldwell-Pope played AAU basketball for the Georgia Blazers, a “city-funded, Nike-sponsored” group overseen by parks director Tony Adams and Herman Porter.
Adams allegedly used the team’s credit card to pay for four flights for Jones to or from Los Angeles worth a total of $828 from June to October of 2009, according to the police investigation. Also, police allege Porter paid the $280 Verizon phone bill of Rhonda Caldwell in July of 2009 with some of the money coming out of the team’s account.
Eric Baumgartner, Georgia’s compliance director, told the Ledger-Enquirer, “I have not received or heard of anything” from the NCAA regarding the matter.
Reached Sunday, athletic association spokesman Claude Felton told the AJC, “We are aware of it and will do our due diligence in looking into the matter.”
Jones, a sophomore linebacker out of Carver High, transferred to UGA last year and is slated to start at outside linebacker this season. Caldwell-Pope, a five-star shooting guard, signed with the Bulldogs out of Greenville High last November and is scheduled to enroll at UGA this summer.
Whether or not this activity would affect either players’ eligibility at UGA is unclear. The newspaper cited a similar case with a Baylor basketball this past spring. Forward Perry Jones was declared ineligible after an investigation determined that, while he was in high school, an AAU coach provided his mother with three 15-day loans that did not total more than $1,000 and paid for the player to travel to a preseason pro football game in San Diego, which cost $4,100. Perry Jones was suspended from Baylor’s first-round Big 12 tournament game the first five games of the 2011-2012 season.
CLICK HERE to read the full report from the Ledger-Enquirer. Check back for further developments.
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281 comments Add your comment
ryan
June 26th, 2011
8:22 pm
I have heard none them were UGA boosters that were involved its mostly a USC situation this happened before they got to UGA .
MarineDog
June 26th, 2011
8:24 pm
If this happened in 2009, then wouldn’t that make him ineligible in 2010? I don’t think he played in 2010?
Not sure on this. Maybe someone can chime in on this question?
old time dog
June 26th, 2011
8:25 pm
going to end up, lame attempt…..BAHAHAHAHAHAHABAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Thanks for reminding us that you are regular patients in the butt ward of the hospital. BAHAHAHAHA!!!!BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! 3 hot dogs and a coke. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
phillip
June 26th, 2011
8:33 pm
I’m a Bama fan and am beginning to have a grudging admiration for the way Auburn can take a situation like this, or the Cam Newton affair and just say …”*&%$ it. Let the chips fall where they may.” Auburn can look innuendo, accusations, negative publicity, and controversy in the eye and roll the dice. I think Georgia just ought to grew an Auburn sized set of balls and use the same philosophy. Everyone else is so afraid of the NCAA, but Auburn just pees on their face and farts on their nose. Roll Tide, but grudgingly……I admire Auburn.
Mr. Tony Geinzer
June 26th, 2011
8:38 pm
I fear Georgia will fall on their face even more severely in SEC Football and Basketball and I think people will remember when Kentucky won their 1st SEC Title Game in History.
Jarvis Jones
June 26th, 2011
8:39 pm
Should have transfered to Auburn and claimed ignorance!
UGAKev
June 26th, 2011
8:41 pm
People like Lobo above have showed their complete stupidity. Some of you are so hopeful UGA had something to do with this that you actually believe what you are saying and are about to jizz in your pants over it. Let’s try to simplify this for all you retards posting nonsense on here… In Columbus Georgia 3 years ago two men may of paid for a flight to and from Los Angeles where Jarvis Jones committed to play football at USC. Read that sentence and PLZ tell me how in the world could The University of Georgia Football program register in your mind when reading that. I would never let any of you idiots ever post a comment again on any AJC blog after spilling such BS on here about UGA.
MarineDog
June 26th, 2011
8:42 pm
phillip,
I understand what you’re saying. It makes sense. If Auburn had to forfeit all of those games last season, I think that the Auburn fan base would have been behind the coaches for continuing to play him. On the other hand, if this happens at UGA, the haters would be calling for his head. I don’t think that he could survive that negative publicity and the AD would have eventually fired him. I do, however, like your thinking.
ryan
June 26th, 2011
8:45 pm
What ever happens will happens if Richt looses he is out but if gets off to a good start then you haters will have egg on your face i am just wait to see what happens with first 2 big games before i decide on CMR ’s future .
chickenman
June 26th, 2011
8:46 pm
this has nothing to do with uga so i could care less.. he went to USC obviously those guys get paid there so im not surprised as for the basketball recruit.. its unfortunate but then again we suck so bad our best 2 players left early to be drafted in the 2nd round
…
john
June 26th, 2011
8:59 pm
Enter your comments here
Blackoutanyone?
June 26th, 2011
9:02 pm
Kids will be required to pay back whatever benefit they received. Maybe a two game suspension. Losing O-linemen much bigger issue.
wolfman
June 26th, 2011
9:03 pm
Sounds like he should try the Cam Newton defense!
david
June 26th, 2011
9:04 pm
here we go again
wolfman
June 26th, 2011
9:06 pm
What’s the saying? Garbage in, garbage out?
ryan
June 26th, 2011
9:11 pm
I agree Blackout O-line thing is much worst then this i am just going to wait to what happens with first 2 big games i have to admit my patients is starting to ware thin seems like Richt taking that trip was not a good idea and all hell has broken loose .
call AU
June 26th, 2011
9:14 pm
richt needs to call the crooks running the AU program and find out how to cover up payoffs to keep good players eligible for the big games!!!
MarineDog
June 26th, 2011
9:19 pm
@ryan,
I don’t think that Richt’s trip had anything to do with what happened. The issue with Jones took place 2 years ago. The thing with Benedict didn’t all of sudden just happen. It had to be an issue already.
You are right about the O-line issue. We are already thin at depth for the O-line. However, to lose Jarvis for the first 2 games would be huge. That LB corps is pretty much built around Jarvis. A good defense can mask some of the issues we have on offense.
Warhorse
June 26th, 2011
9:23 pm
The ignorance on this thread is remarkable. It is about UGA because it is about eligibility of two players. Nothing is going to happen to the poodles, except they may be denied the services of two players.
You dawg posters need to get a grip on reality.
ryan
June 26th, 2011
9:27 pm
I agree MarineDog things right now look kind of dark just hope everything stays clean the rest of summer can’t afford anymore bad news .
MarineDog
June 26th, 2011
9:33 pm
@ryan,
It’s kind of disheartening that every-time we seem to be on track, something always happens. I knew that it was only a matter of time. Things were too positive. Hopefully it’s just a minor setback. Our defense was suppose to be one of our strong points this year. Hopefully, they (NCAA) won’t hit us too hard. But after the AJ thing, I’m not to confident on that.
Buzz2010
June 26th, 2011
9:36 pm
The spots on the Dawg never go away.. So sad!!!
Bulldog Arch
June 26th, 2011
9:37 pm
Relax,MarineDog,if they are declared ineligible,we didn’t do it.The infraction was with the local parks and recreation department where the young men are from.
Bulldog Arch
June 26th, 2011
9:42 pm
Please read and re-read if necessary and allow your brain to digest what you have read.Always wait 30 minutes before you post if you didn’t understand what you read.If after 30 minutes,you still do not understand what you’ve read,take a nap and try again later.
K from Da Wood
June 26th, 2011
9:43 pm
I’m a little confused? Is this really something that should matter to the NCAA? Is there nothing anyone else can do for a perspective student athlete outside of a blood relative? These kids have relationship with some of these coaches since they were 8 & 9 years old…they’re like uncles and surrogate fathers. This shouldn’t be a violation of anything! DAMN the NCAA!!!!!
MarineDog
June 26th, 2011
9:44 pm
@Bulldog Arch,
I agree. The problem is that it will affect us if we lose him for a few games. You’re right, we didn’t do it. It won’t affect USC as well.
Gator Trey
June 26th, 2011
9:45 pm
What a shocker! Not. Uga players involved with more illegal shenanigans
RamblinRed
June 26th, 2011
9:46 pm
Pope could be the more interesting one to watch here.
It was his personal cellphone that the bill was payed for. More interestingly, when the police managed to reach him at his dad’s in Atlanta, they tried to set up an interview with him and he hung up the phone on them. Not really how law enforcement tends to like to interact.
MarineDog
June 26th, 2011
9:52 pm
How do you get 4 flights from L.A. to Ga. for $828?
Poor UGAY sports
June 26th, 2011
9:56 pm
You UGAY losers are pathetic. As a WAR EAGLE I believe this situation also does not have anything to do with UGAY only that 1 player may get suspended for something outside of UGAY. Therefore there most likely would not be an investigation of UGAY in this situation with these 2 players.
That said this has nothing to do with Cam Newton, nor Auburn. You people are idiots because you are so blinded that this situation is not a UGAY issue, and it is pretty plain to see. If the 2 kids got caught up in something with these parks & rec losers then that will impact the 2 kids directly as they were involved to what extent is yet to be determined. I am not surprised more of this AAU stuff does not cause more problems for more athlets, and colleges than it currently does or has.
Get off Cam’s and Auburn’s back. The rumors and innuendo’s brought up by BSPN, and loser at Fox Sports that continue to dig for something that is not there is pathetic also.
How is it not possible to believe that Cam’s father did not tell him about Miss State offering money. Cam’s father may be a slime ball and was greedy, but that does not mean the father told the son. I bet your parents did things during your upbringing that they did not share with their children. Let’s see like adultery, DUI, falsifying expense reports, stealing, lying, possibly smoked a little pot while kids played outside?
Mark Richt is a fine man and I would like more people to try to be like him as a decent human being. Well, at Auburn our coach Gene Chizik has similiar qualities and you may be surprised to find out he is a good man, and an excellent football coach. I
I understand rivalry and all, but the hatred you spew is pathetic. Most of you probaly have kids, and would be very dissapointed if your kids acted this way in little league, or even school, yet this is how you act. Grow up!
Truth and Facts
June 26th, 2011
10:04 pm
This story is not about UGA. This story is about a young man and his “adviser” who did not report through the proper channels of their involvement with each other. However, with the knowledge that is now out there of the case, it seems more and more likely that at a minimum, if they tell the truth and do not lie, will lose games and will be forced to pay back the amounts. At some point the people surrounding these young men will be dealt with and by most historical counts will be banned from certain programs.
Cecil and Cam Newton Rule now will force the punishment for taking or requesting any form of compensation.
UGA needs to force the hand first or the cloud of doubt from these players will soon force the NCAA to place some focus on players on campus this summer and fall.
Truth and Facts
June 26th, 2011
10:08 pm
Poor UGay,
Lets ask and answer one question and one question only. Why has there been 2 different attorneys assigned from the NCAA attending the Bingogate trial in Montgomery? The reports have been verified by the television news, the newspaper and by radio sports talk in and around Montgomery. The latest report states that the two have been brought in separate doors and leave by separate doors to avoid conversations.
DOUG
June 26th, 2011
10:20 pm
Arrests,academic eligibility,cheating,scandal. Why follow this Sh… Not to mention the athletic programs are based in Liberal institutions that are driving the concept of Socialism into the minds of our youth.
To Hell with Georgia and every other College University on the map.
Chuck UGA
June 26th, 2011
10:20 pm
UGAKEV,
Problem is this newspaper and these blogs are full of idiots. Not just any kind of idiot, but idiots whose conditions are irreversible: Village Idiots. Yes, they will spin some sort of BS to try and blame UGA for this or say that UGA knew all about it all along.
Chuck UGA
June 26th, 2011
10:25 pm
Gaytor Trey, you fit the description above. How do you ties these two to UGA before they even uttered “UA” from their mouths. Typical as 90% of Gaytor fans either cannot read or cannot understand what they just read.
Dr. Phil
June 26th, 2011
10:25 pm
Carver High School is going to be a can of worms for UGA of increasing magnitude.
Chuck UGA
June 26th, 2011
10:28 pm
Icheatherly,
See your description above as well. Just call yourself VI. Parks & Recreation people UGA boosters paying for flights for a USC football player? Class A Retard.
john
June 26th, 2011
10:36 pm
For someone to say that Richt should not have taken that tgrip is asinine. The man can do on his own time what he damn well pleases.
Hammond
June 26th, 2011
11:07 pm
UGA = Cheaters
captguitarman
June 26th, 2011
11:34 pm
Paybacks are just pure hell, aren’t they, Puppies? Oh? UGA was not even involved, you say. It was another school. It was just the players, or it was the street agents, it wasn’t UGA, aand blah, blah, blah. Wonder how many of these loud whiners just ignored that same fact in the Cam Newton situation, where another school, not Auburn, that was involved. Not many of you, if any, I suspect. What goes around comes around, as they say, and now the shoe is on the other paw, and well, things are “different” now aren’t they? How do y’all like it? But still the jealous whiners take swipes at Cam Newton and Auburn, which now come off as more than lame. But, I see that as the green-eyed monster talking more than anything else. Let’s see now, the only major SEC football program not to win a national title since . . . . well, you know the sad story, and this won’t be the year either. Some say Bama again. But, I fully acknowledge that the Newton investigation is still open, as it should be, and if any credible evidence ever comes up that he was personlally involved, and not a relative, friend, or a street agent, or that Auburn was involved, they should burn for it. Too late for Newton to burn, but Auburn, like USC just did, can certainly give the title back if there is sound reason to do that. And it this case, so far, it looks like UGA was not involved, but only the players. Should we sit the players down for five or six months until the investigation is done? Oh my gosh, who would ever suggest such a thing without strong credile evidence? Oh gosh . . . let me think. How about every puppie in the Puppie nation? Instant Karma’s gonna get you, as a great philosopher once wrote. No worries, though. They’ll get right to the bottom of this, and the players will only miss a couple of meaningless games at the start of the season.
SickandTired
June 26th, 2011
11:45 pm
Time for the Dawg Fans to call for this to be swept right under that rug…..after all, it’s not about them, the NCAA however will penalize the players first and Georgia can keep their hands clean other than the fact it’s just another example of the type of player that’s getting recruited in Athens. Here we go, broom it away, broom it away. What’s that I hear coming down that track, another investigation of the red and black.
Richard Cranium
June 26th, 2011
11:52 pm
Considering UGAg’s squeeky clean record….. uh, … upon further review…
They average 11 arrest a year. Why would I think UGAg has anything to do with this??
Are you kidding me… ????
LA Dawg
June 27th, 2011
12:16 am
If they got four flights to LA from ATL for a “total of $828″ then it looks like the Airlines are in this too…but I guess the fed will bail the airlines out and the kids will get kicked out of school.
Professional Athletes David
June 27th, 2011
1:46 am
@UGAKev – Two to three game suspension? I think it would be too much,hehe
Columbus
June 27th, 2011
1:55 am
AAU basketball is all that is involved. No schools, no improper benefits. Taxpayer money being misspent for a mom’s cell phone bill(Pope) and tickets from a basketball(AAU not NCAA)coach/official. Nothing to do with college except Jones was under scholarship at an NCAA institution. I do not see how this is an NCAA violation unless USC is connected somehow. Pope’s seems like nothing. This scandal has been going on down here for over a year. Park n Rec guys put in positions they were not qualified to be in but the city did not want to pay for ones who were and these 2 got in trouble, spent taxpayer money on things that they were not supposed to, including this. Former mayor ordered a police investigation into the Park n Rec Dept and this is part of it. AAU/Nike league. I guess EVERYTHING is under the NCAA these days whether it’s college or not. But hey this seems like small potatoes. No school, coach or booster involvement. Just AAU guys spending some taxpayer money wrongly and with NO connection to UGA. Who knows, they might have been a relationship with the family(s). It sounds like an AAU problem, not an NCAA problem or no connection with the NCAA whatsoever in my opinion. But again, we are talking about the NCAA, EVERYTHING is a violation!
Pat the UGA fan
June 27th, 2011
2:06 am
bite me
Columbus
June 27th, 2011
2:07 am
Dr. Phil….Carver High is not going to be can of worms. They have kids that come from some single parent families many of them. They have no role models. But they have a coach with integrity, heart and morals and values and he cares deeply for these kids(even if he did go to Auburn! He was born in Georgia and UGA had some awesome backs when he played). He is the male role model in many of their lives along with the other coaches. Only 3 football players under Mcgee has not graduated High School….3! If you knew how astonishing that is considering many of their backgrounds, you would applaud them and root for them. A few of them may be leading UGA to a shot at the National Championship the next few years. The coach is putting out some players and will be for many years most likely. He is young with NFL experience. he replaced a legend and has done so very well and has started turning out more college players than his predecessor. Watch Crowell do his thing. More Carver players going to be coming out more than ever. They are going to many schools. Auburn, Alabama, USC. If it is a can of worms, it will be spread around the country….Watch Jarvis Jones crack some heads too! I cant wait. he might miss a game, maybe not…
Gary
June 27th, 2011
2:17 am
NEITHER KID SHOULD HAVE GO THRU ANY GAMES LOST,THESE WAS SITUATION WHEREIN PEOPLE TRYING TO HELP SOMEONE WHO WAS LIKE FAMILY TO THEM BETTER THEMSELVES ,AND IT YET TO BE PROVEN THESE EVENTS EVEN HAPPEN,IF YOU LOOK AT PROGRAMS IN THE USA KIDS NEED HELP SOMETIMES BECAUSE OF THEIR INCOME AND AAU COACHES ARE LIKE FAMILY AND ARE NON-PROFIT PROGRAMS TO HELP KIDS TO BETTER THEMSELVES ,NOT LIKE AGENTS,ONCE IN THEY ARE OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL THE KIDS CAN’T PLAY AAU AND NO HELP FANANICAL WISE IS GIVEN.
Gary
June 27th, 2011
2:25 am
NONE OF AAU COACHES ARE UGA BOOTSTERS ANYWAY ,BUT LEAVE THESE KIDS ALONE
Eastside dawg
June 27th, 2011
2:39 am
Everyones talking about the football team. Jones can be replaced. Pope is the lone superstar recriut who is coming to a bare cupboard. without him, fox and crew dont stand a competitive chance