Feds investigating Kansas basketball program

[Tony]

Oh my

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/24/1833090/federal-ku-inquiries-look-into.html

By MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star

Federal authorities are investigating possibly illegal sales of University of Kansas men’s basketball tickets, The Kansas City Star has learned.

The probe appears to be focused on whether NCAA Tournament tickets, and perhaps season ticket packages, have been taken illegally from the university, possibly for years, and sold through outside channels. Proceeds could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, sources said.

Lawyers with ties to the case said the investigation was in its preliminary stages.

The university has launched an internal investigation, sources said.

It’s unclear how many individuals are under investigation, how many tickets are involved and how many years are involved.

Earlier this month, Kansas administrators put a top athletic department fundraiser on an administrative leave of absence. Rodney Jones, 41, was director of KU’s athletic ticket office before becoming in 2004 the assistant athletic director in charge of the Williams Educational Fund, the primary vehicle that Jayhawk boosters use to contribute to the athletic department and acquire game tickets.

Thus far, athletic department spokesmen have declined to discuss the reason for Jones’ suspension. They offered no comment to The Kansas City Star when asked about the investigation.

“Officially we cannot comment at all, because it is a personnel matter,” Athletic Director Lew Perkins said.

Reggie Robinson, president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Board of Regents, said an internal investigation was common practice when a staff member had been placed on leave.

Spokespeople for the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas declined to discuss any investigation.

No one answered the door at Jones’ apartment in Lawrence when a reporter recently knocked. He has not responded to a letter from The Star. A telephone number listed for Jones last year in state corporation paperwork was temporarily out of service.

Federal agents appear to be casting a wide net in search of witnesses. Two metropolitan area ticket brokers confirmed this week that they had spoken with federal agents investigating the KU ticket program.

Hal Wagner of Ace Sports & Nationwide Tickets said agents had asked him not to discuss it.

“It didn’t have anything to do with me,” Wagner said. “I really don’t have any comment.”

Another ticket broker, who asked for anonymity because of a similar request from agents, acknowledged that he recently had received a federal subpoena. He said he was not concerned.

Lawyers with clients in the case demanded anonymity, even declining to identify their clients during interviews with The Star, saying that the investigation was too sensitive to discuss publicly.

The exact theory investigators are working under is unclear. One source close to the probe said it pertained to the department’s handling of NCAA Tournament tickets, and another said the probe dealt both with season tickets and tournament tickets.

A third source, whose firm is representing a potential subject of the inquiry, confirmed the federal ticket investigation but declined to be more specific.

A critical question, one lawyer noted, is whether the staffers were legally selling tickets that they had acquired properly.

According to KU policy, athletic department staffers can receive two complimentary season tickets to football and men’s basketball games.

“The transfer or resale of complimentary tickets is prohibited,” the policy states.

When it comes to KU tickets, the biggest donors to the Williams Educational Fund get access to the best seats in the house and to the biggest events.

KU boasts that 4,200 members contribute $8 million annually to fund all athletic scholarships for about 550 university athletes.

For the NCAA Tournament, Williams fund members got first crack at tickets. For the games last week at Oklahoma City, each of the eight schools playing received an allotment of 350 tickets and the right to acquire 200 more if they became available, which they did.

About 65 percent of the KU tickets were reserved for Williams fund members, with the remainder made available to students, faculty and staff.

The highest Williams fund contributors get additional perks, such as preferred parking and invitations to closed practices.

Most of the regular-season tickets for Allen Fieldhouse are sold through a priority points system. Williams fund members with the most points — which are accumulated through donations and past ticket purchases — have the first chance to buy tickets, according to Kansas Associate Athletic Director Jim Marchiony.

Allen Fieldhouse seats 16,300. KU students are allocated 4,000 season tickets. Players get four tickets per game. After staff members receive their seats, the rest are sold to Williams fund members.

If single-game tickets become available — for example, because of unused tickets by students — Williams fund members have the first chance at purchasing those. KU athletics also operates an online marketplace where Williams fund members can resell their tickets if they cannot attend a particular game.

 

[One More Rebound]

This is good news for Kans... ah, forget it...

 

[Tony]

Repeated attempts to reach ouhoops.com poster "Cheno" for comment were unsuccessful..

 

[BanjoCharley]

Cheno was last seen somewhere in northern Iowa.

 

[SoonerDan74012]

Cheno was last seen somewhere in northern Iowa.

:ez-laugh: :clap

 

[MercedeSooner]

was he recruiting ?

 

[seniorsooner]

Pretty weak that Cheno has disappeared honestly.

 

[campbest]

Not trying to defend KU, because I think it is funny they got busted, but this happens at other universities as well. You have two or three people in charge of all these tickets, collusion is part of the business.

 

[gracefor24]

Not trying to defend KU, because I think it is funny they got busted, but this happens at other universities as well. You have two or three people in charge of all these tickets, collusion is part of the business.

Should be interesting to see what happens. I really don't know what it means for the KU athletic department but it seems that it is more the case of individuals doing this rather than departmental corruption. I don't really know, though.

 

[campbest]

Should be interesting to see what happens. I really don't know what it means for the KU athletic department but it seems that it is more the case of individuals doing this rather than departmental corruption. I don't really know, though.

From my limited perspective, its probably the individuals. Know for a fact that OU Athletic Department employees selling their tickets (some of which are usually comps) is a big no-no.

 

[Tony]

Holy ****! According to phog, the guy in question is this dude:

Rodney Jones joined Kansas Athletics in 1997 and currently serves as Assistant Director of Athletics, Williams Educational Fund.
Jones joined the staff after graduating from the University of Oklahoma. While attending OU, Jones worked as an assistant in the student support services department of the Sooners' athletics department.
Jones is responsible for servicing the membership of the 5,000-plus athletics department donor organization and pursuing new members to the group.
Jones, a native of Kirksville, Mo., and his son Parker, reside in Lawrence.

---

If this Sooner infiltrated Kansas, screwed over their fanbase with a ticket scheme and then got them in trouble with the feds, we need to induct him into a Hall of Fame or something! At least retire his necktie! The man is a genuine hero!

 

[Sooner23]

 

[SoonerDan74012]

:ez-laugh:

 

[MercedeSooner]

Pretty weak that Cheno has disappeared honestly.

it is if its only cause KU lost. I mean be serious they just won in what 08 ? if OU won the NCAA tourney i could care less if we didnt make it past the 2nd round for the next 10 years.

 

[Soonermarty]

Holy ****! According to phog, the guy in question is this dude:

Rodney Jones joined Kansas Athletics in 1997 and currently serves as Assistant Director of Athletics, Williams Educational Fund.
Jones joined the staff after graduating from the University of Oklahoma. While attending OU, Jones worked as an assistant in the student support services department of the Sooners' athletics department.
Jones is responsible for servicing the membership of the 5,000-plus athletics department donor organization and pursuing new members to the group.
Jones, a native of Kirksville, Mo., and his son Parker, reside in Lawrence.

---

If this Sooner infiltrated Kansas, screwed over their fanbase with a ticket scheme and then got them in trouble with the feds, we need to induct him into a Hall of Fame or something! At least retire his necktie! The man is a genuine hero!

BINGO! He wanted to add insult to injury after this weekend.

 

[daqman]

If this Sooner infiltrated Kansas, screwed over their fanbase with a ticket scheme and then got them in trouble with the feds, we need to induct him into a Hall of Fame or something! At least retire his necktie! The man is a genuine hero!

:ez-roll::ez-roll::ez-roll:

 

[One More Rebound]

You know he has to be a secret agent. He's got the awful blue shirt Kelvin Sampson look...

 

[Keller Sooner]

Cheno was last seen somewhere in northern Iowa.

Cheno is hiding out in his momma's celler. He is being treated for deep depression. Doctors say they've never seen such an extreme case. :ez-laugh:

 

[Escape Goat]

Pretty weak that Cheno has disappeared honestly.

Yep, weak.

 

[paulsboutique]

Bill Self wears a piece. Wrong thread?