Hamrick certain case was handled properly

Steve Guiremand

Friday, July 16, 2004 | 9:20 a.m.

UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick said Thursday he is convinced that neither new head basketball coach Lon Kruger nor his staff committed any NCAA violations during the recent recruiting saga of East St. Louis (Ill.) High School star Tommie Liddell.

The Rebels came under scrutiny recently when Liddell, who signed a national letter of intent with Saint Louis University last November, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch earlier this week he had been contacted by an UNLV assistant coach, whose name he could not recall, about his interest in becoming a member of the Rebels. Liddell, accompanied by an adviser from East St. Louis named Keith Lewis, then told an Internet-site reporter at the Reebok ABCD Camp last week that he had changed his mind and that he would sign with UNLV in the fall.

Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg initially said he would report UNLV or any other school suspected of contacting Liddell to the NCAA for tampering with his star recruit. Liddell remains bound to his original letter of intent until the start of classes in late August at SLU, which makes him off limits to other schools unless he originates the contact. Soderberg, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, later said that Liddell had informed him that he did indeed plan to reopen the recruiting process.

Liddell, a 6-foot-5 guard who was generally rated among the nation's top 150 prep prospects last season, will have to attend a prep school in the fall after failing to finish high school or garner a qualifying test score. He told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday after meeting with his family that he now plans to honor his original commitment to Saint Louis and will re-sign with the Billikens "as soon as possible." That would be during the early November signing period.

"From the information I have, and the information I received from our compliance people, no (NCAA) violation was made and the case was handled appropriately," Hamrick said. "Case closed."

Because Liddell is still considered a potential recruitable athlete, neither Kruger nor his staff could comment about the matter per NCAA recruiting guidelines.