The "Art" of recruiting at Minnesota
Jan 30, 2004

Several recruits said they went to a handful of bars over the two days, with Gophers players acting as their hosts, and said the players were provided alcohol if they wanted it.

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Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said he will investigate recruiting practices within the football program after learning that high school prospects went to several Minneapolis bars and a strip club during an official recruiting visit in December. That and this report from The Star Tribune's Chip Scoggins
Three prospects acknowledged Tuesday that they were part of a group that visited bars as minors and that several were served alcohol. A group also went to Deja Vu, a downtown strip club that admits patrons 18 and older and does not serve alcohol.

Maturi, who learned of the allegations Tuesday evening, said he immediately would look into the matter. Without knowing the facts, Maturi said he does not believe any NCAA rules were broken, but said he is concerned about the reports of underage drinking among recruits.

"If it's true, it's obviously very disappointing to me," Maturi said. "We don't condone that. It's unacceptable. We will look into what happened to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Gophers coach Glen Mason was out of town and unavailable for comment. Tim Allen, the Gophers director of football operations, said coaches are not allowed to discuss recruits, according to NCAA rules, but said: "We certainly don't condone that type of actions with our players."

The recruiting visit in question came during the weekend of Dec. 5-7, when at least nine prospects were on campus.

"There was drinking, but I don't know how many guys were," said Hutchinson's Lydon Murtha, who said he does not drink and did not that weekend.

Justin Kershaw, a recruit from Columbus, Ohio, who ultimately gave a verbal commitment to Michigan State, said he also was at a bar where recruits were drinking, although he said he didn't.

Maturi said per NCAA rules, player hosts are given $30 a day to cover entertainment expenses for themselves and their recruit. Several recruits said they did not pay for anything that weekend.

"I guess the hosts paid," Kershaw said.

Murtha, who had given the Gophers his verbal commitment a year before his visit, withdrew his commitment Monday and announced he will play for Nebraska instead. Murtha said his decision had nothing to do with the events of that weekend.

"That is not the reason at all," he said. "I want to make that clear. I simply liked the atmosphere better at Nebraska. It had nothing to do with that other stuff."

Several recruits stressed that they were not pressured to do anything and that the Gophers coaching staff told them to conduct themselves with class in public.

"Coach Mason and Coach Browning [assistant coach, Mitch] told the players not to act up and to keep it calm," Kershaw said. "The coaches didn't have any part of it. The hosts really were low-key, too. It was mostly the recruits who went out together."

Said William Brody, a Gophers recruit from Cleveland: "It's not like we were forced to do anything. If you didn't want to go somewhere, you didn't have to."

Maturi said his first order of business is to talk to the players' hosts to learn what happened and then to find out if there have been other instances when recruits were supplied with alcohol and taken to strip clubs.

"We don't have anything written down that says don't go to strip clubs," he said. "Obviously, we ask our athletes to represent the university in the best possible light. Maybe that's something we need to take a look at.

"We also have to find out if this is the first time it's happened. Or does it happen every visit? Has it gone on for five years? I won't know how to proceed until I know the answers to those questions." That and this report from The Star Tribune's Chip Scoggins