Maryland Not Planning to Challenge Charges

COLLEGE PARK, Md. —  University of Maryland Athletic Director Lew Perkins says he and other school officials will look into, but probably not challenge, 13 categories of allegations by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. against the men’s basketball program.

The allegations, most of them stemming from unethical conduct by former Terrapins Coach Bob Wade and members of his staff, were made public Wednesday after the Maryland state attorney general’s office determined that the NCAA letter of inquiry it received Monday was a public document, university President William E. Kirwan said.

The document, signed by S. David Berst, assistant executive director of the NCAA, said the alleged violations appeared to be major in nature. The document, broken into 13 categories, might contain as many as 20 separate violations.

The university has until Dec. 15 to respond to the charges.

“My feeling is that we will not challenge any of the allegations, but we will certainly look into them,” Perkins said. “But not having more information than we already have, I think we will go along with the NCAA.”

In a prepared statement released by the school’s public relations department, Kirwan said, “No coach or other employee of the athletic department who is a subject of the allegations in the NCAA document is now with the University of Maryland.”

Most of the allegations involve Wade, who resigned under pressure May 12; former Asst. Coach Jeff Adkins; former Administrative Assistant Woody Williams; and former Terps point guard Rudy Archer. The allegations are the result of investigations by the university and the NCAA that began in early March.

Among the allegations:

--Wade lied to NCAA investigators about illegal payments totaling $272 made to Archer before and during his enrollment at Maryland, as well as about the illegal transportation provided Archer while he was attending Prince George’s Community College last fall. Archer was academically ineligible to play at Maryland and so was considered a recruitable athlete under NCAA rules.

--Archer was provided with use of a car from a Baltimore dealership for at least two weekends a month during the 1987-88 school year; he charged telephone calls to the basketball office between January and June, 1988, and was given a sweat suit by Wade around Christmas last year, when he was considered a recruitable athlete.

--Wade encouraged Adkins, Williams and former part-time assistant Ralph Lee to give misinformation to investigators from the NCAA and a university investigation.

--Adkins arranged for former players Dave Dickerson, John Johnson and Greg Nared, as well as current players Tony Massenburg and Rodney Walker, to receive “between $200 and $250 for the sale of each of their four complimentary admissions” to the 1988 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Face value of the four-session ticket books to the 1988 ACC tournament was $90.

Massenburg, the only one of the players not to receive payment for his tickets, said Wednesday, “That’s something I talked to the NCAA about. It’s something that doesn’t affect me. I just want to play basketball.”