LB Jarvis Jones remains eligible as UGA’s internal investigation continues
Georgia hopes linebacker Jarvis Jones will be able to suit up against Boise State on Sept. 3 (Photo by Chip Towers)
Athens — Georgia hasn’t ruled linebacker Jarvis Jones ineligible. Not yet, anyway.
Jones, a sophomore from Columbus who is slated to start at strongside outside linebacker this fall, continues to work out with the Bulldogs this summer as if he will be play in the season opener against Boise State on Sept. 3. But there is a good chance UGA will have to rule him ineligible and apply to the NCAA for reinstatement sometime before the start of the 2011 season.
“That has not happened and we’re really not even sure yet if that has to happen,” Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity said on Monday. “We’re still looking into it.”
Jones and UGA basketball signee Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are the subject of an ongoing UGA internal investigation into allegations of receiving improper benefits from a former Columbus parks and recreation official. That official, Tony Adams, was fired following a police investigation for misusing funds, some of which allegedly benefited Jones and/or Caldwell-Pope.
Adams, who also was an administrator for the local AAU team, reportedly paid for four flights for Jones to and from Los Angeles in the summer of 2009 when he was a recent Southern Cal enrollee. Caldwell-Pope’s mother reportedly was provided cell phone service.
McGarity said that UGA is actively investigating the case and no records of their findings are currently available for review.
“I would say that we’re doing our due diligence internally to sort through everything,” McGarity said. “At some point in time we’ll have some sort of communication with the SEC and the NCAA on the entire situation. So much of this right now is verbal. We’re obviously having conversations, but there’s nothing to report right now.”
Whatever the outcome, it’s expected to affect the players’ individual eligibilities and not any of Georgia’s athletic programs.
To rule a student-athlete ineligible and then apply for reinstatement has become standard operating procedure for schools facing NCAA eligibility questions. That’s what Georgia did last summer soon after it was made aware that All-America wide receiver A.J. Green sold a bowl jersey to an individual who allegedly worked for an agent. Georgia declared Green ineligible for the season opener against Louisiana-LaFayette. However, it did not find out until the second week of the season — the week of the South Carolina game — that he’d also have to miss the next three games.
Georgia Tech did not inactivate Demaryius Thomas or Morgan Burnett when eligibility questions arose for them in the fall of 2009 and that seems to have contributed to harsh penalties handed down by the NCAA last week. The Yellow Jackets were placed on four years probation and had to vacate their 2009 ACC title.
In the meantime, Georgia must continue its preparations for a nationally-televised matchup against Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Sept. 3 in the Georgia Dome. The Bulldogs will do so with the anticipation that Jones will be able to participate.
“It’s no different than a guy being injured in the sense that you don’t know when a guy is going to be injured,” Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. “We’re obviously going to prepare at every position as if the guy that’s the first-team guy is the player. And then if he goes down, who’s the next guy? We’re always going to have plans in place to get our guys on the field.”
So what happens if Jones is not available?
“We could move a guy around; it could be a guy that’s here now; it could be a freshman,” Grantham said.
Grantham said they had discussed cross-training inside linebacker Richard Samuel at the position but Samuel was moved to tailback last week. Sophomore Chase Vasser is currently listed as the No. 2 linebacker behind Jones. After that are walkons Matthew DeGenova and Jamal Allen.
Five incoming freshman linebackers will join the team in August — Sterling Bailey, Ray Drew, Amarlo Herrera, Kent Turene and Ramik Wilson. All but Turene were enrolled summer semester.
Asked which freshmen might get a look at strongside linebacker, Grantham quipped, “All of them.”
Chip Towers
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92 comments Add your comment
Island Dawg
July 19th, 2011
12:12 am
just suspend him for one of the tennessee game—GA can beat them easy. The dawgs need Jones big for the first two games against BSU and USC.
RedandBlackDAWG
July 19th, 2011
12:35 am
They will probably give him a 2 game suspension, but they will wait until the very last minute before the season starts to enforce it. It is not a hit on UGA since it took place while he was at USC but it will affect us more.
Tech Guy
July 19th, 2011
7:10 am
New Jawga fight song – “Let’s call the whole thing off.”
Dogs Smell
July 19th, 2011
8:02 am
Georgia , do you really think you run a clean program in homerville? No team is clean and Georgia your day will come !
Paul N Destin
July 19th, 2011
8:31 am
It must be something in the water over in Columbus.
Footballrules
July 19th, 2011
8:33 am
Love the talk about Tech “cheating.” Well, if that’s the best they can do at cheating, they are gonna have to really amp it up if they want an invite to rejoin the Knucklehead Conference.
JOE
July 19th, 2011
8:35 am
Does the coach know about the investigation, cause if he does, then the NCAA will bring the hammer down…..
DawginLex
July 19th, 2011
8:54 am
The kid is going to be ineligible for a couple of games to start the 2011 season which will force us to play someone else at his linebacker spot who is not near as good.
I wonder about our compliance dept. at UGA sometimes.
It should be mandatory for every recruit BEFORE we sign them to sit down and have a detailed interview with one of the coaches with a script provided by the compliance dept.
1.) Do you have any relationships that would cause the NCAA to question your eligibility?
2.) From this relationship, did you or a family member receive any payments, either directly or indirectly?
Georgia could have found out about this guy, gone to the NCAA with the facts and it would be over and done with because UGA would have done the NCAA’s job for them.
gdawginkalamazoo
July 19th, 2011
9:04 am
DawginLex, IMO I don’t think the kid knew where the money came from. From what I gather this character was some sort of mentor and his guardian traveled with him. He probably didn’t know to ask who paid for the flights. Same for Pope, how the hell was he supposed to know who paid for his mother’s cell phone?
DawginLex
July 19th, 2011
9:18 am
Maybe have the parents in on the interview?
ToccoaDawg
July 19th, 2011
9:22 am
So let me get this straight… This happened while he was @ U of Stupid Criminals, he transferred, sat out a whole year and NOW the NCAA might sit him more games? Shouldn’t this have been handled last year?
Lowcountry Bulldawg
July 19th, 2011
9:30 am
Let the kid stay eligible all the way up to 3 days before kickoff. Let Vasser work as Co #1. The NCAA needs a fire lit under them to make effective and timely decisions in the matters. It is unfare to any college program, not just UGA, when so much is at stake. It is in terms of money, titles, jobs at risk. Families at risk up be moved because of the NCAA being ineffective at rendering timely decisions.
The JJ situation should not need sent up to MIT for evaluation. It seems rather cut and dry but yet here we are again in the waiting game. Last season AJ sat four games and look what happened? Now our starting OLB who just happened to transfer from USC is awaiting the hammer to fall.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
July 19th, 2011
9:32 am
Note we are what 7 weeks from kickoff of the opener. The NCAA cant compile the research and information to make a decision on this? This is the crap that makes people sick of the NCAA!
Tobias Funke
July 19th, 2011
9:41 am
Chip
Your boy Carvell just pulled a you on his article this morning. He printed a picture of a recruit with Richt. Thats a Secondary Violation. How does this happen two summers in a row at the AJC? Is the editor “asleep at the wheel?”
Bob Devaney
July 19th, 2011
9:59 am
The Nerbaska Cornhuskers were really, really good with our Heisman Johnny Rogers and our huge line ………………….. um, ah, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the early 70s.
Ace
July 19th, 2011
10:08 am
Won’t matter, UGA will still lose 7 games next season. More pain like the last few years.
PowerDawg
July 19th, 2011
10:18 am
I’ll bet he doesn’t sit at all. There are exceptions for amateur athletes participating in AAU sanctioned events. AAU affiliated organizations are allowed to provide basic financial assistance with regards to transportation when their authorized representative athletes are required to travel long distances in order to compete. He was accompanied by his legal guardian who was also entitled to travel benefits. Don’t know every detail, but from what I have read and heard from some pretty reliable sources, it would seem this is not going to be a problem for JJ.
McGarity and the team are just being prudent, unlike our friends from North Avenue who chose to shrug their collective shoulders and plug along with indifference. Better safe than sorry, I always say.
NorthHallDawg
July 19th, 2011
10:26 am
If it comes to it Chase Vasser will do just fine. I know this young man personally and believe me he will get the job done if needed. If he were a Hockey player he would be known as a grinder; plays his heart out game after game but doesn’t get much fanfare.
McDawg
July 19th, 2011
10:28 am
Cam was never shown to receive extra benefits–Jones clearly did regardless of whether he knew or not -might that be a mitigating factor ??-probably will have to pay back -and sit 1 or 2 games
UGA '05
July 19th, 2011
10:39 am
Just watched Derrick Henry’s high lights and he does not look better than Crowell. He false steps everytime the play starts, he’s not as fast, not as big, and the defenses he played would always jog to try and tackle him. How can anyone say this kid is better than Crowell?
RedandBlackDAWG
July 19th, 2011
12:37 pm
This violation did not occur on UGA’s watch and would not have even been known, if not for the police dept. revealing the information it got. UGA reported the incident as soon as they were even aware of it, so it is up to the NCAA to act on it. I wish the NCAA would act even slow versus dead slow, but that is the realty of the situation. They should at least be able to tell UGA, if he will be eligable or not, but that is probably asking too much. Right now, I think they are probably frying bigger fish, with N.C., Ohio State, Oregon, and continuing with Auburn, so I am pretty sure this particular case is pretty low on the totem pole.
AltamahaDawg
July 19th, 2011
12:38 pm
I don;t think the NCAA has actully know about this but a short while, have they? I don;t think this is something they uncovered in an ongoing investigation so not sure they are draggin thier feet. We (SEC office) reported this to them a few weeks ago, right?
BigTimeTechFan
July 19th, 2011
12:47 pm
How can Greg McGarity talk to the press about this yet GT can’t even talk to their own head coach. Richt will know about this just by reading the papers.
AltamahaDawg
July 19th, 2011
12:56 pm
DIL, How would the compliance office have found out about this from asking those questions. The answer would have been no to both the questions, for both the players. Or any questions really.
AS to this particular situation, the trips to Ca weren’t the problem. Obviously the kid traveled to Ca a few times if he played out there. The guardian taking him, or paying for it, isn’t the problem. I’m not even sure that the guardian getting the money from her employer when her employer didn’t have the authority to do that is ultimately going to matter to the NCAA. It’s the opinion that the AAU acted as some sort of “agent” for USC that would be of issue. Or if the money to travel ends up being thought of as a “benefit” from being an athlete. I’m not sure that normal travel expences to a legit destination is going to be that. Improperly expensed out maybe, but that’s the citizens of Columbus’ issue to deal with.
AltamahaDawg
July 19th, 2011
1:03 pm
Simple, BTTF. Everybody knows that nobody from tech is good at talking to other people.
Big Ten Champs Nebraska....Dawg
July 19th, 2011
1:42 pm
Epic
Big Ten Champs Nebraska....Dawg
July 19th, 2011
1:48 pm
I still laugh at some of you rednecks that try to cast aspersions at the Nebraska program. You are relegated to Lawrence Phillips, or as above, the teams from the 70s. Someone also listed the number of UGA players in the NFL. My main point is the UGA program is lacking in academics. Because of that, you find players ineligible for play, and or players in legal trouble.
And for the genius disguised at Devaney, just remember Nebraska has won 3 national titles since UGA won theirs is 1980, all the while increasing their nation leading academic all Americans.
The UGA program was not like this years ago. Don’t be mad at me, be mad at the program for continuing the path down a slippery slope in hopes of titles.
Alabama | MrSEC.com
July 19th, 2011
1:54 pm
[...] college athletes.2. Mark Bradley of The AJC likes Georgia and LSU to meet in Atlanta.3. Georgia is still looking into the AAU scandal that could leave a Bulldog football player and a Bulldog basketball player facing eligibility [...]
AltamahaDawg
July 19th, 2011
2:00 pm
So having players failing to meet academic standards is a sign of having too low of academic standards? interesting.
Big Ten Champs Nebraska....Dawg
July 19th, 2011
2:06 pm
Not only that, but an inability to bring those with academic problems up to standards.
UGA fails at this miserably.
RUMORMILL
July 19th, 2011
2:37 pm
TECH GOT SUSPENDED FOR DRAD TELLING CPJ, NOT BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T SIT BEY BEY AND MORGAN. THAT COMPARISON OR DISTINCTION IS WRONG.
ADDITIONALLY, HOW IS IT THAT UGA CAN CONDUCT THEIR OWN INTERNAL INVESTIGATION BEFORE THE NCAA AND TALK TO GOD AND EVERYBODY, BUT CAN’T SIMPLY NOTIFY OUR COACH THAT AN INVESTIGATION WILL OCCUR? DOUBLE STANDARD MUCH?
Ace
July 19th, 2011
3:33 pm
6-7 is well brands boys.
RedandBlackDAWG
July 19th, 2011
4:43 pm
Power Dawg,
The problem with jenkins is he was already enrolled at USC when he took at least one of those trips. Hard to convince the NCAA is was for an AAU event or sponsorship, since he was headed to USC on all of the occasions. He will probably get sat down for 2 games. UGA is actually doing more investigating than the NCAA right now, so maybe he will not have to sit starting the season. Since the money issue is a civil issue, who knows when it will be concluded.
RedandBlackDAWG
July 19th, 2011
4:50 pm
Next thing you know Nebraska, you will be telling us that the corn huskers give out a degree for husking. Why you even bother to come onto a blog concerning UGA is beyond me. You haven’t even played your first game in the big ten yet, and you are calling them big ten champs. You had better hope that Oklahoma never comes over to the big ten, or even Texas. I’ll give you two years until Ohio State raps you upside your head and probably Michigan as they seem to be benefiting pretty well, with the recent problems at ohio. This ain’t Kansas anymore Toto.
Jordan
July 20th, 2011
8:22 am
I’m not saying they necessarily should do it, but has the thought of Richard Samuel playing both ways not entered these guys’ minds? He more than likely won’t start at RB, and while it isn’t utilized in college football anymore (former Stanford FB/LB Owen Marecic is the only player I can remember doing it in the last few years, and he started on both sides of the ball), I think it could be an option in this situation.
Island Buzz
July 20th, 2011
9:34 am
georgia players, on the take again. But, they’ll cover it up as usual and get the good players eligible for the important games. Nothing ever changes at the university of football.
gomdawg
July 20th, 2011
10:37 am
Island Buzz, are you stupid if that was the case AJ Green would have played all last
Chip Towers
July 20th, 2011
11:15 pm
Tobias Funke: Neither Carvell nor I have ever committed a secondary violation. We’re not members of the NCAA.
Nomobama
July 21st, 2011
10:09 am
Where theres smoke, theres fire…
@sportsguru95
July 23rd, 2011
9:30 am
Some of these AAU coaches r in it for the kids! Jones was flying back & forth 2 College! Does it really matter who paid it? That’s what a Coach should do, for a kid that doesn’t have a father in the home! The NCAA can’t control HS sports like this! The guy paid Pope’s mothers cell phone bill! What’s wrong with that? Where’s the EXTRA BENEFIT in that NCAA?
abc
July 23rd, 2011
1:56 pm
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sarcasm
GoForTwo
July 24th, 2011
9:09 pm
I’ve notice how these big time football programs are putting themselves on some form of easy probation in the chance the NCAA will be easy on them. Well, let’s go ahead and put Jarvis on probation and say he has to skip lunch for this football season. That would about equal what these other Universities have declared is okay for their teams. Ohio State, LSU, Tennessee and others are examples. They know that they have been bad and hope this wrist slap probation will suffice because they are big time, unlike smaller schools which would be slammed.