Georgia has to report more secondary violations due to inadvertent calls
ATHENS — Inadvertent telephone communication once again has forced UGA to report secondary NCAA violations to the Southeastern Conference office.
This time it involves Georgia running backs coach Bryan McClendon. According to Athletic Director Greg McGarity’s Aug. 1 letter to SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, obtained by the AJC via state and federal open records laws, McClendon thought he was calling a friend named Jay Harris when he accidentally called recruiting prospect Drew Harris instead. Harris is a four-star running back prospect from Exton, Penn.
What made this a violation is McClendon’s call was made on May 29, 2011. Fellow UGA assistant coach Scott Lakatos had made a recruiting call to Harris on May 3. Therefore the second call was deemed to be a violation of two NCAA bylaws that restrict telephone contact with recruits.
According to UGA’s report, “Jay Harris” appears right below “Drew Harris” in the speed dial directory in McClendon’s cell phone and he accidently hit the wrong entry. McClendon didn’t realize he’d called Drew Harris until his voicemail picked up. McClendon then left Drew Harris a message stating he had inadvertently dialed him and to not call back. McClendon then self-reported the violation to UGA’s compliance office, according to McGarity. Records show the call lasted 47 seconds.
UGA has requested relief from the mandatory two-week phone call ban to Harris and asked the SEC to not assess any penalties “given the mitigating circumstances” and because “no recruiting advantage was gained.” The SEC has not reviewed the case.
Inadvertent phone calls have been a problem for UGA athletics in 2011. The school has had to report more than a half-dozen incidents of “pocket-dialing” and sending impermissible texts rather than permissible emails due to cell-phone usage mistakes this year.
UGA also reported this week that gymnastics assistant coach Julie Clark violated NCAA phone contact bylaws when she called an unsigned prospect Brandie Jay to wish her “Happy Valentines Day” on Feb. 14.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
141 comments Add your comment
ole yeller
August 5th, 2011
8:10 pm
My goodness, how can any school keep up with the inane efforts of the NCAA to cause pain to schools. Minor or major these clowns are out to press charges against anyone to get power over the breadwinners that pay their salary. The NCAA and its leadership will eventually pay the price. Members will one day say enough is enough. I am a Tech fan but in fairness to UGA this is crap.
Hot Dawg
August 5th, 2011
8:15 pm
With player’s sending death threat’s on cellphone’s, throwing stolen laptop’s out of dorm window’s (same player’s pop shopping him around to the highest bidder ) Q.B. playing after being suspended multiple time’s ,etc. etc. why is this news worthy ?
GTBob
August 5th, 2011
8:27 pm
Yep dawgfan, that is the best we have. If we had any better then we would have won more then one. Personally, i’m shocked that we even won one. 9-1 is not a good record against us. If you had a better coach you would have been 10-0 without even playing your starters.
Win P.
August 5th, 2011
8:28 pm
To: GTBob @ 4:03pm..You only listed 4 ways to avoid the misdial problem. Where are the remaining 996 ways to avoid. You are guilty of the same thing that many are complaining about..AJC’s reporting and NCAA’s “ruling”…slightly excessive.
RedandBlackDAWG
August 5th, 2011
8:29 pm
Dog Gone astray,
A 47 second inadvertent phone call, and to top it off, no real contact, was made and you think this is somehow deliberate? Might have been different if he had talked to the kid and even more different if he had actually offered him cash or something. There are so many little stupid rules, that accidents will happen. At least UGA reports them.
Beast from the East
August 5th, 2011
8:30 pm
47 second accidental phone call?
I say give ‘em the Death Penalty!
LOL!
dawgfan
August 5th, 2011
8:35 pm
Nobody said it was a good record. Vandy has the same record. Kentucky has done better. Obviously Georgia Tech is a complete joke. You’re preaching to the choir there bro. You asked a question if references to your kiddy porn professor was all that we UGA fans had on Tech. I answered it for you with big fat resounding NO. That is not all we have on Tech. We beat you like a rented mule on a football field without even breaking a sweat, as you just pointed out.
You’re welcome.
deaddog
August 5th, 2011
8:37 pm
Wait till the operations done at the medical center become public.
GTBob
August 5th, 2011
8:39 pm
You absolutely do dawgfan, kudos to you for being able to beat one of the worst teams in the country on a regular basis. That puts you up there close to Virginia I think. It’s too bad you can’t beat anyone else, and your school is an embarrassment in just about every other way.
Thanks.
What this really exposes
August 5th, 2011
8:42 pm
GT lost their pathetic ACC trophy, resting now in the basement of the Waffle House corporate offices ……………for systemic cheating top to bottom in the ADM offices at the Sledge Building AND they had to write a check for $100,000.00 skins paybale to the NCAA.
UGA’s issues? They will not take back out last SEC Trophy or our Sugar Bowl ( 3 in the last 10 yrs) win. THAT is the difference folks. They will slap us on the hands on this minor issue in a climate of strong NCAA sanctions.
Watch it and weep GT fans. Um, ah, did your check clear yet???
southgeorgiadawg
August 5th, 2011
8:48 pm
does uga offer a course called how to use a phone 101 ???? get all the coaches to take it, please !!!!
Win P.
August 5th, 2011
8:51 pm
With Tech’s inclination to ignor NCAA’s rules, I would not expect to find Tech reporting a misdial. This rule is one that deserves beening ignored. I beginning to think UGA is overly sensative to the NCAA and these violations fit into a category I would label…”don’t think I would have reported”.
Tech Guy
August 5th, 2011
8:53 pm
So what was it that toppled your empire, former coach richt?
Cellphones and them dadgum motor scooters. We never could figure out either one of them, so its back to cow tipping and hog calling for us….
BobDawg
August 5th, 2011
9:04 pm
GTBob, I do agree that with the Iphones and other gadgets out there that Dawg coaches could separate recruits into folders and or use a different phone..This is getting old…
I guess the rule is you can’t call twice in the same month after the 15th day of the 3rd Thursday until midnight of the 4th Tuesday shows up with a Full Moon!
CAN WE JUST START PLAYING FOOTBALL???
hind tit
August 5th, 2011
9:25 pm
Why don’t we just do away with cell phones and computers. Have we forgot what a wondeful world it was before they apeared.
Win P.
August 5th, 2011
9:39 pm
To: Tech Guy @ 8:53pm..You do make a good point. UGA should have courses on riding scooters and using cellphones, or perhaps it could be one course. Tech on the otherhand should have a course on the proper way to be mugged on North Avenue.
BobDawg
August 5th, 2011
9:51 pm
…. I was wrong above… You can’t call twice in the same month after the 15th day of the 3rd Thursday until midnight of the 4th Tuesday shows up with a half Moon unless there is a haze around the moon which means that major storms are about to enter the area which could cause cell phone interference which means that no cell phone calls can be place to a potential recruit…..
Just Think About It...
August 5th, 2011
9:52 pm
Win P.-Good one. The only problem I see is that, while a course on riding scooters and cellphone usage would be beneficial to UGA’s football team, a course on how to be mugged is not beneficial. A course on mugging prevention would be more suitable for Tech students.
Anyway, while I do believe that he gained no benefit from dialing this Harris kid, I have to agree with an earlier poster as to why this kid’s number was in his speed dial? In most every phone I have seen, contacts are organized (in the regular contact list) by first name, not last, so Jay and Drew would not be near each other.
84@74sborohasbeen
August 5th, 2011
10:20 pm
This accidental call S### is way out of hand on the NCAA side. If the NCAA powers that be have nothing better to do, they might as well go to Washington and join in with the restof the idiots tryingto ruin anything worth a damn. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
What one person asked
August 5th, 2011
10:30 pm
The inadvertant call is a non-issue.
What one person has asked, and no one has answered is why is an assistant gym coach calling a potential recruit to wish her “Happy Valentines Day”?!?!?! I could understand a Happy Birthday maybe, but Valentines Day? That’s just creepy.
ole yeller
August 5th, 2011
10:51 pm
Hey guys I tried to be civil up to now, but you have football players caught for urinating on the streets and not showing up for court dates that’s the latest even before practice starts. Just a long line of the past. These kind of moral issues will haunt your team until some discipline is demanded out of your leader. So far no good. I remember back to FSU when Bobby Bowden and Mark Richt ran the program, nothing has changed and sad to say, UGA is now the FSU of Ga. God forgive me I just posted on a Ga. blog.
drbasic
August 5th, 2011
11:44 pm
old yeller
your a moron. Civil? Peeing behind some bushes…big friggin deal! Its not a moral issue and if YOU see it as such you have major issues….your right stay off the GA blogs. Worry about real issues not non issues that this paper has to dig up. Geez
bardawg
August 5th, 2011
11:46 pm
I accidently made an inadvertent call to a business accociate today because of the stupid , stinking redial button on my cell phone . ( which I keep in my pants pocket) . How in the world could this totally innocent act be construed as a violation of recruiting is beyond me. Love ya NCAA , you folks are the cheese!
bardawg
August 5th, 2011
11:54 pm
Old Yeller , If you feel uncomfortable posting on a UGA blog , please let me invite you not to screw up and do that again. Stay your littlepuppy butt off the porch with thebigdawgs and we’ll see how things shake out thisyear.
whatever
August 6th, 2011
12:14 am
Yea, right – “inadvertent calls” – sounds like UGA (Sir St. Mark) is trying to pull one on the recruiting front.
ole yeller
August 6th, 2011
12:28 am
drbasic and bardawg please, both you are idiots. You attended school at UGA? I think not. Have either of you attended a game at Sanford Stadium? Next question, did either of you go to any college at all? I do not feel uncomfortable posting here just a little embarrassed that I could sink unto your gutter level. Just as a side note I will never sink to the level of posting on a UGA blog again. It’s immature and irreverent.
mo
August 6th, 2011
1:35 am
h
mo
August 6th, 2011
1:37 am
um in the midst of all the football wrongdoings did anyone catch that the female gymnastics coach called to wish an underage recruit a happy valentines day, why?
65dawg
August 6th, 2011
6:46 am
Thank God we got another offensive lineman to commit! OOPS, wrong post. Hit the wrong key! Chip, better report me to your editor.
shoo
August 6th, 2011
9:18 am
you have adult gym dog coaches wishing underage kids a happy valentines day? not only is that creepy that is so inappropriate, why is uga allowing that to go on? or for that matter the clark county authorities? and why is all you poopdogs on here ignoring that? hypocrites
5$ Dawg
August 6th, 2011
9:48 am
Haha, I bet Chip wishes he had checked the “Close Comments on Blog” button before posting this. 80% of the comments are pointing out how weak the AJC’s reporting is on UGA and Tech.
RedandBlackDAWG
August 6th, 2011
9:49 am
Poor old “Ole Yeller”. Now you guys have hurt his feelings. He is never going to come back on this blog and play with you anymore, LOL. He took his toys and went home. A glass of milk and some of mom’s cookies should make him feel better.
I-DOG
August 6th, 2011
11:29 am
Old School Tech Fanatic:
Did you even read this brief article. The assistant coach self reported the inadvertant phone call to the NCAA. It was a 47 second phone call in which the coach told the recruit he dialed him by accident and because of limits on contact that the recruit should not call him back.
The key here is that UGA self reported this incredibly minor infraction unlike tech who has swept things under the rug and played academically ineligible players knowingly. If you can’t see the difference, then you can’t be helped.
DAWGMAN
August 6th, 2011
11:31 am
Coach McClendon,
STADIUM STEPS, NOW. Do not stop till I say to stop. cmr, you go,too. He’s yours.
I-DOG
August 6th, 2011
11:41 am
dog gone astray:
I’m sure that 47 phone call went something like this. “Hi Drew, it is coach Mac at UGA. listen, I am going to talk fast so that it looks like I am just leaving a msg saying that I called you by mistake, but we can match Auburn on the $40,000 offer to play for them just like the Newton deal. Also, if you get in trouble for firing an automatic weapon into a crowd like that Florida player did or if you break into a car impound lot like at Florida, we can get that swept under the rug and you will still play. If you are academically ineligible, we will still play you just like Georgia Tech,so you don’t have to worry about that. Also, if you savagely beat someone at a bar with your teamates within an inch of their life like at Tennesee, you won’t miss any playing time (I mean you might have to do some extra sprints or something, but we want you to play). Last, we can now suspend you up to 6 times during the offseason just like Garcia at South Carolina, so that you don’t miss any playing time.
Pay no attention to these reports in Athens about kids missing game time for something they do on their scooters. It can’t be that different at UGA than it is at all these other schools, right? You can’t possibly believe that can you? Alright, I’ll MISTAKENLY call you again real soon.”
RedandBlackDAWG
August 6th, 2011
12:09 pm
Shoo,
If UGA was allowing it to go on, they wouldn’t have self reported it now, would they?
Cheaters never win,
Guess what, people that post useless comments, and statements without facts, like you to, also seldom ever win either. What a groundless, stupid statement to make, but I suspect you are just a snert.
GO DAWGS
Ronnie
August 6th, 2011
3:04 pm
These men are in charge of a multi-million dollar business….football program…and dont’ know how to operate “smart” phones. You have to be smarter than what you’re working with. Come on guys.
Dawg1
August 6th, 2011
4:56 pm
140 comments?
Are you kidding me… It was a slow day – so this was written – this means “nothing”…
Mike
August 7th, 2011
11:43 am
It’s simple … UGA should give these guys a work phone (blackberry or something), and they should have their own phone. They should not be able to make personal calls on their work phones.
Just my opinion. Easily solved.
trey
August 7th, 2011
12:40 pm
Oh no!
But … are they on probation? Did they have to forfeit any wins? No? No? Not like the techmites did?
Next…
Mark Richt farewell tour
August 7th, 2011
9:09 pm
I’m not the only stupid UGA football coach that don’t know how to use a cellphone.