| | Associated Press
ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia coach Jim Harrick has been given
permission to recruit former Georgetown point guard Kenny Brunner,
whose off-court problems have plagued his college career.
Brunner, who attended an Idaho junior college last year, has not
been accepted by Georgia's admissions office, but athletics
director Vince Dooley said Tuesday he had authorized Harrick to
pursue him.
Brunner said he expects to drive from California and arrive in
Athens by Friday.
"I'm just coming down there to bring a winning attitude to the
team and help Georgia win some games," Brunner told The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound guard spent less than a year at
Georgetown, where he averaged 11.2 points and 7.3 assists in 19
games, before transferring to Fresno State in 1998.
Soon after he left Georgetown, he was arrested on charges of
assaulting a former Fresno State student with a samurai sword and
robbing him of cash and a camera. He was suspended indefinitely by
coach Jerry Tarkanian.
A judge dismissed four felony charges against Brunner, saying
the incident resulted from "horsing around that got stupid."
On May 22, 1998, Los Angeles City College basketball coach Mike
Miller said Brunner took $1,500 after pointing a gun at him and
pulling the trigger in a gym. The gun misfired.
Brunner spent four months in the Los Angeles city jail because
he was unable to post $550,000 bail, but the charges were dropped
after the coach was unable to identify Brunner as the attacker.
"I think some people have misjudged me, but that's for them and
God to decide," Brunner said. "I feel comfortable with who I
am."
Dooley said he had expressed concern about Brunner's past to
Harrick, "but he spoke very strongly about the kid because he
knows him."
"Based on that, I told him to start recruiting him and we'd get
together about it at a later date," Dooley said.
Last year, Brunner led the College of Southern Idaho to a
second-place finish in the National Junior College Athletic
Association tournament. He attended Santa Monica College this
summer to finish his junior-college courses.
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