Star receiver Johnson suspended for his role in use of phone card

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Aug. 29, 2003 | 9:18 a.m.

UNLV will be without arguably its best offensive player when it opens its 2003 football season tonight against Toledo at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Junior wide receiver Earvin Johnson, a preseason all-Mountain West Conference pick who had a team-high 51 receptions for 793 yards and four touchdowns last season, is one of three Rebels who must sit out tonight's game for their part in the school's "Phonegate" scandal.

Johnson amassed over $100 in phone charges that were eventually linked to the long distance access code of assistant football coach John Jackson and must sit out the Rebels' first game under NCAA rules. He is one of 11 football players and 15 student-athletes overall from fall sports who were found to have used the PIN in violation of NCAA extra-benefit guidelines.

Two women's soccer players, a men's soccer player and, get this, a member of the school's dance team also received suspensions. All must make full restitution to the school for their charges.

The school will begin looking into possible infractions by winter and spring sports athletes in about a week, according to associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie.

It was originally thought that just nine freshman players who lived in a campus dorm where the PIN was badly abused were the only culprits from the football team to be involved. However, when the school began checking records further back it was discovered that Johnson had also been involved.

"It hurts to lose him but it's part of the reality of the chain of events that have happened," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "The athletes from this university that are involved in this are going to sit out one game."

Johnson and two other unidentified players will sit out tonight's game. Eight other players who also took part but had less than $100 in phone tabs will have their suspensions staggered during the season because they broke university rules but did not meet the minimum $100 in charges that would have made it a NCAA violation.

Robinson refused to name the other two players who will sit out tonight's game citing the Buckley Amendment for privacy. One will have to sit out four games because his tab was more than $500. The total charges for the 15 athletes involved was $2,499.51.

"The two others are not heavily involved in the game at all, so I didn't ask their permission to use their names," Robinson said. "Earvin is newsworthy and I asked him for his permission to release his name and he gave that to me."

Johnson, who attended UNLV's short workout at Sam Boyd Stadium on Thursday night, declined to speak with the media, however.

"He's obviously disappointed," Robinson said.

Robinson said one player will eventually sit out a game for rolling up charges totalling just 85 cents while another had a little over a dollar worth of calls.

"But the rules are things that we have to pay attention to," he said. "Obviously, this is whole thing is something we want to put behind us."

Senior David Relf, who started one game last year at Oregon State, will take Johnson's spot in the starting lineup.

"I think we're all going to push ourselves to help pick up the slack," Relf said. "Obviously, it's a big void to fill."