U.Va. coordinator Bob Pruett accused of fraud

CHARLOTTESVILLE—On the eve of his first season as defensive coordinator at the University of Virginia, Bob Pruett is being accused of involvement in academic fraud and the overpayment of players at off-campus jobs while he was head football coach at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.

David Ridpath, a former compliance officer at Marshall, filed documents Friday with new allegations against Pruett. They’re part of a lawsuit Ridpath initiated against Marshall, Pruett and Marshall administrators about six years ago. The new filings were first reported Sunday on CBSSports.com.

The NCAA penalized Marshall in 2001 for several violations, including academic fraud and lack of institutional control. Pruett was not named in the original NCAA infractions report. Ridpath, now an associate athletic director at Ohio University, believes he was unfairly made a scapegoat at Marshall, the Huntington Herald-Dispatch reported.

It’s unclear if the NCAA would re-open the case, given that the organization’s four-year statute of limitations has expired.

Pruett, a longtime friend of U.Va. coach Al Groh, spoke to reporters yesterday on a teleconference scheduled before the CBSSports.com story broke.

“I haven’t seen the article,“ Pruett said. “Wasn’t aware of it. That’s an eight-year ongoing legal procedure, [and] you know in legal procedures you can’t comment on things like that.

“Those are accusations. That’s the reason hopefully one day you’ll get your day in court, and we’ll see what happens.“

Charleston, W.Va., attorney Vaughan T. Sizemore, who represents Marshall, said yesterday that Ridpath’s filings were in response “to our motion and Coach Pruett’s motion [last month] for summary judgment.“ In such a ruling, a court would decide a case without a trial.

“We’ve moved for summary judgment, and we think we have a good basis for the court dismissing [the case] at this time,“ said Sizemore, who added that attorneys will respond in detail this week to Ridpath’s latest allegations.

If there is no summary judgment, the case is scheduled to go to trial late this year.

Pruett, 65, graduated from Marshall in 1965. An assistant at his alma mater from 1979-82, Pruett was the Thundering Herd’s head coach from 1996 to 2004. His attorney is Edward M. Kowal Jr. of Huntington.

“Coach Pruett looks forward to the opportunity to fully litigate his case later this year and will not comment on pending litigation,“ Kowal said in a statement yesterday. “Some of the alleged issues in the lawsuit involve the NCAA investigation of Marshall University which concluded almost seven years ago. The NCAA report is available to the public, and the findings concerning several of the litigants are contained in it. Coach Pruett looks forward to a conclusion of the legal proceedings so that all the facts and all the issues can be addressed.“

In affidavits filed Friday by Ridpath, two former Marshall football players said they were forced to sign documents saying they were paid $12.50 per hour for their off-campus work, when in fact they made $25 per hour, the Huntington paper reported. In another affidavit, a former Marshall conditioning coach accused Pruett and others of providing copies of a final exam in advance to some athletes.