COTTRELL/WILLIAMS CASE TIMELINE
A timeline of events in the Ronnie Cottrell/Ivy Williams case against the NCAA: Jan. 10, 2001: Albert Means, a promising defensive end prospect from Trezevant High in Memphis, was sold for $200,000, a Trezevant assistant tells The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal in a front-page story. June 1, 2001: Logan Young, a prominent Alabama booster from Memphis, admits to giving former Tide recruiting coordinator Ronnie Cottrell a $55,000 loan in 1998. Dec. 6, 2001: In its response to the NCAA, The University of Alabama said there was not enough evidence to prove Young actually paid the Trezevant High assistants. Feb. 1, 2002: The NCAA penalizes the Alabama football program. The sanctions include a two-year postseason ban and scholarship reductions. December 2002: Former Alabama assistants Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams file a $60 million defamation lawsuit against the NCAA, claiming that a conspiracy within the organization resulted in their unfair implication in the Alabama infractions report. The suit asks the court the compensate the two for their inability to work after the NCAA told member schools they couldn't hire the two without showing just cause. Oct. 23, 2003: Gallion writes Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton, asking him to compel Fulmer to give a statement regarding alleged improprieties in Knoxville. Days later, Alabama loses 51-43 to Tennessee in five overtimes in Tuscaloosa. Oct. 30, 2003: A federal grand jury in Memphis indicted Young for paying $150,000 to have Means attend Alabama. The three counts are conspiracy, crossing state lines to commit racketeering and arranging bank withdrawals to cover up a crime. Jan. 24, 2004: Gallion reveals NCAA documents that say conversations between recruiting analyst Tom Culpepper and Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer started the NCAA investigation that resulted in Alabama's sanctions in 2002. May 7, 2004: Decatur native Philip Shanks, who is representing Cottrell in federal court proceedings in Memphis, is attacked as he enters his law office in suburban Memphis. About 90 pounds of documents relating to the Cottrell/Williams case are stolen. June 24, 2004: Fulmer's attorneys tell a federal judge in Memphis that he can't locate documents that were subpoenaed by Young's attorneys. Also, Mountain tells The Birmingham News that he and Gallion will request the trial begin in either December 2004 or January or February 2005. "I don't see why we couldn't get ready in that time," Mountain says. July 26, 2004: University of Tennessee officials announce that Fulmer will not appear at SEC Media Days in Hoover later in the week, largely in fear of a subpoena Gallion is rumored to plan to serve the coach. Fulmer's no-show results in a $10,000 fine from the league. July 29, 2004: In a bizarre show at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Fulmer addresses media by teleconference. He lashes out at "renegade lawyers" who made it unsafe for him to attend. July 30, 2004: Cottrell and Williams receive a Sept. 1 deadline to give depositions to NCAA attorneys. Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Steve Wilson sets a June 13, 2005, date for trial. Nov. 15, 2004: Shanks tells the Decatur Rotary Club that Alabama is "absolutely not guilty of any major infractions" of which the NCAA convicted the school. Feb. 2: A federal jury in Memphis finds Logan Young guilty of all three counts on which he was indicted. June 8: Gallion and Mountain urge Wilson not to dismiss their case with a 1,500-page filing. They also claim the NCAA is paying Culpepper's legal bills. In Memphis, Young is sentenced to six months in prison. June 24: Wilson unseals nearly 3,000 pages of documents, including "for your eyes only" faxes from Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer to then-SEC commissioner Roy Kramer. The documents give the public first-hand access to many long-rumored items in the case, including news that the SEC knew Lang shopped Means. Thursday: Wilson throws out the bulk of the plaintiffs' claims in the case. Wilson's ruling that Cottrell is a limited public figure is most hurtful to his case. Friday: Gallion files an emergency motion with the state Supreme Court to ask for a stay in the trial, scheduled to start Monday, so that he can prepare an appeal of Wilson's rulings. The stay is denied.
Subscribe for only 33¢ a day!
|
|
Leave feedback
on this or
another
story.
|
|
