NCAA Investigating Gaffney Prospects

by David Harry - Correspondent - Tue Oct 03 21:26:33 GMT-04:00 2000

CLEMSON,SC -- NCAA officials were in Gaffney on Tuesday to investigate Gaffney High School stars Jeff Littlejohn and Roger McIntosh and their relationship with Clemson booster Lamar Greene. Allegations of improper booster contact between the parties surfaced when both Littlejohn and McIntosh received used Jeeps days after verbally committing to Clemson. NCAA officials are also looking into the summer employment of Littlejohn and McIntosh by Greene, in which the players received $100 per day for landscaping work. Both Littlejohn and McIntosh claim that they were paid on the same scale as their fellow employees.

“The only thing that (Gaffney High School) principle Bill James would say was that the NCAA got some anonymous tips. He didn’t elaborate on what those tips were,” said Gaffney Ledger sports editor Larry Hilliard.

“That what prompted the investigation and we’re just assuming, since it’s what the rumors have been, that it’s about the job and that right after they verbally committed they got those cars.”

Reports Tuesday afternoon stated that Littlejohn’s mother signed the note on his Jeep and that the cost of the vehicle was approximately $9,000.

Littlejohn and members of his family reportedly met with two NCAA investigators for two hours in the early afternoon. McIntosh wasn’t in school, and it is suspected that NCAA officials will attempt to interview him tomorrow.

“I sense that they (NCAA investigators) think that there’s something there,” Hilliard said. “I don’t think that they would have been in there for two hours if they didn’t have something. Afterwards, (Gaffney head coach) Joe Montgomery just took Jeff to practice and didn’t allow him to meet the press.”

Littlejohn’s family declined to comment on the situation when reached at their home Tuesday night. Calls to the homes of both McIntosh and Lamar Greene were not answered.

UPDATE: Reports are surfacing that the NCAA is not just looking at these incidents but other allegations against boosters of other schools as well.