Louisville Wants Auto Charge Dismissed

University of Louisville says a crucial charge leveled against its men’s basketball program by the NCAA should be dismissed, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The university says the accusation involving former player Samaki Walker’s procurement of a 1991 Honda Accord is based on indirect and circumstantial evidence, The Courier-Journal reported.

The main issue in regard to the Honda is whether Walker’s father, John, actually paid for the car and whether Samaki Walker knew of the arrangements.

The school acknowledged the other nine violations listed by the NCAA in its July 12 formal letter of inquiry, according to Louisville’s official response to the NCAA findings, obtained by the newspaper through an open-records request.

Louisville asked the NCAA to take into account the school’s cooperation in the investigation.

The school emphasized that it self-reported those nine charges, which ranged from phone calls to recruits by former assistant coach Larry Gay to improper contacts with recruits by former volunteer strength coach and booster Jimmy Thompson.

School officials had until Tuesday to file a written response to the charges in the case, which the NCAA described as “major.”

The next step in the 15-month-long probe will come Sept. 21, when Louisville officials and the NCAA Enforcement Staff appear in Atlanta before the Committee on Infractions. A final ruling on possible sanctions is expected in October.

Possible penalties include probation, a ban from postseason play, reduction of campus visits by recruits, sanctions against staff members involved with recruiting and reduction in financial aid.