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| | Monday, April 17 Piggie says he's not guilty of defrauding schools | |||||
| Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Former amateur coach Myron Piggie pleaded innocent Monday to charges he defrauded some of the nation's top high school basketball players and four major college programs, including Oklahoma State. Piggie, accompanied by his attorney, spoke briefly with members of his family before saying he was "not guilty" of charges in an 11-count indictment handed down Thursday. Prosecutors allege Piggie defrauded UCLA, Duke, Missouri and Oklahoma State because five players' amateur status was compromised by accepting money from him while in high school. Piggie was charged with paying the players more than $30,000 between April 4, 1996, and Oct. 7, 1999, and expecting to receive part of their professional salaries and endorsement income in return. He also is accused of conspiring with sports agents to determine the future professional value of the players. During the bond hearing following Piggie's plea, two people who testified to the grand jury that indicted him said they had felt threatened by Piggie when they questioned his business dealings relating to the summer program. One of the men Magistrate Robert Larsen heard from Monday was Kansas City booster Tom Grant. The indictment says Piggie was given $184,435 by Grant, who was not charged in the indictment. Grant testified that when he telephoned Piggie to let him know that the coach had been taped offering money to a player, Piggie denied the charge vigorously and threatened to "start a war." Prosecutors played a tape of the call. In it, a voice identified as Piggie's was heard to say: "If people want to start a war with me, I guarantee one right back. I can do it in such a way that ... I don't care how much money people got." Grant said he took that as a threat against him and his family. Mark Tilford, a Kansas City-area upholstery business owner, also testified Monday that he had paid Piggie $6,000 as part of a deal to sell Nike shoes. He said that when Piggie didn't follow through on the deal, he questioned him and was told several times by Piggie that if Piggie lost his contract with Nike that Tilford "would be affected personally. I took that as a threat." Piggie used the access he gained to the players to receive a $425,000 consulting contract and $159,866 in other compensation from Nike, the indictment said. Nike was not charged in the indictment. Piggie, of Kansas City, paid JaRon Rush of UCLA $17,000; Kareem Rush of Missouri $2,300; Corey Maggette of Duke $2,000; Andre Williams of Oklahoma State $250; and Korleone Young $14,000, according to the indictment. Young, of Wichita, Kan., skipped college to enter the NBA draft. He is now playing minor league basketball. JaRon Rush has not yet confirmed reports that he will enter the NBA draft. He and Kareem Rush, his younger brother, both played at Kansas City's Pembroke Hill High School. Piggie also was accused of helping JaRon Rush lease a car on the condition that he not accept a basketball scholarship from Kansas, and of contacting sports agents with the help of George Raveling, a Nike consultant and former coach at Iowa and Southern California. Raveling, who testified before the grand jury that indicted Piggie, was not charged. The Rush brothers and Williams were suspended by their schools for varying periods. Those cases have since been resolved by the NCAA with the Rush brothers each missing nine games and Williams five. Maggette was never declared ineligible in his one season at Duke. Piggie could face up to 49 years in prison without parole and up to $1.85 million in fines. The charges included mail fraud, wire fraud, failure to file a federal income tax return and interstate transport of fraudulently obtained funds. He also was charged with illegal possession of a firearm. Piggie coached the Children's Mercy Hospital 76'ers, an amateur summer league basketball team in Kansas City, which participated in various summer league and Amateur Athletic Union competitions for boys 11-18. He also coached the team after it became known as the Kansas City Rebels. | ALSO SEE Amateur coach indicted in fraud of four schools UCLA's Rush to declare for NBA draft UCLA-Rush-Piggie connection draws special scrutiny  | |||||