U.Va. Defensive coordinator linked to violations at Marshall

By Doug Doughty

First-year University of Virginia defensive coordinator Bob Pruett, whose return to coaching has been one of the bigger story lines in the Cavaliers' offseason, now finds himself in the news for a less flattering matter.

Seven years after the NCAA found Marshall University guilty of violations involving academic non-qualifiers, Pruett has been linked to the violations in sworn affidavits in a federal lawsuit by two of his former players and ex-strength and conditioning coach Mike Jenkins.

Pruett, who had a 92-23 record as the Thundering Herd's head coach from 1996-2004, was not named in the initial NCAA report.

"That's an eight-year ongoing legal procedure," said Pruett, who added he was not aware of a story on CBSSportsline.com that first reported the allegations Sunday. "You know, in legal procedures, you can't comment on things like that. Those are accusations. That's the reason hopefully one day you'll get your day in court and we'll see what happens."

Pruett's comments were made Monday. U.Va. head coach Al Groh was asked about the matter Tuesday.

"Actually, this is quite a dated issue," Groh said. " It's been before both the NCAA and the legal system. We're well aware of it. We've been aware of it for quite some time, both previous to Bob's coming here and subsequent to that.

"We're comfortable with the situation as we know it. It's an annoyance to him, but not a distraction. "

In 2001, Marshall was placed on NCAA probation for four years and lost 15 scholarships - five per year for three years. On top of that, Marshall stopped recruiting non-qualifiers for two years.

The lawsuit was filed by David Ridpath, Marshall's former NCAA compliance officer who was fired in 2003. His lawsuit accuses Marshall, Pruett and others of using him as a scapegoat.

Court documents indicated that Marshall persuaded non-qualifiers to come to Marshall by promising jobs that would pay their tuition.

Pruett announced he was stepping down at Marshall in the winter of 2005, mostly for health reasons. Pruett came out of retirement in February at the urging of Groh, who had lost former defensive coordinator Mike London to the head coaching position at Richmond.