Loyola’s Quinn, NCAA’s Berst Will Discuss Gathers Lawsuits

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —  Although there remains no official word on whether Loyola Marymount’s basketball program will become the object of an NCAA investigation, Brian Quinn, the Lions’ athletic director, and Mike Gilleran, commissioner of the West Coast Conference, will meet informally this week with a top NCAA enforcement official.

“Brian and I will sit down with David Berst and share some ideas,” Gilleran said Monday. “They know what’s going on. It hasn’t exactly been low profile. But they call the shots on whether there is to be an investigation, and if so, when and how. Until then, we are all a little like a guy sitting in the waiting room of a dentist’s office.”

Berst is the NCAA’s assistant executive director of enforcement. He confirmed Monday that the NCAA had received information from Gilleran regarding a possible violation by Loyola, but declined further comment.

Gilleran had previously told The Times that he had notified the NCAA that information in depositions taken recently for lawsuits in the aftermath of the death of Lion basketball star Hank Gathers indicated possible violations.

“I asked for the meeting, and I did so mostly because we are all here (at the NCAA convention),” Gilleran said. “I doubt we would have flown to NCAA headquarters in Kansas City to do this. It just seemed like the thing to do, since we are all here.”