Abdur-Rahim Back In Draft; Cal Focus Of Ncaa Probe

Three weeks ago, Cal cheered the return of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, a 6-foot-10 basketball star who announced he had changed his mind about entering the NBA draft.

Now, the Bears are waving good-bye to Abdur-Rahim, bracing for an NCAA investigation and disputing rumors that coach Todd Bozeman is ready to take a job as an assistant coach with friend John Calipari and the New Jersey Nets.

Cal, already reeling from Abdur-Rahim’s decision to leave, announced Friday that the basketball program is the subject of a preliminary NCAA investigation of possible rules violations.

Perhaps the turmoil in the program played a part in Abdur-Rahim’s decision. Either way, his college career is over.

“He’s going into the draft,” Bozeman said Friday.

Bozeman also said, “I fully plan on being at Cal next year.”

Doubts about the status of Abdur-Rahim, a sophomore, surfaced this week when it was learned the NBA had not received a letter requesting his name be removed from Wednesday’s draft. Bozeman denied an account that Abdur-Rahim was carrying the letter around in his pocket.

“That letter was signed and on my desk Monday,” Bozeman said. “I faxed it to the NBA. Then, Shareef called me on Monday night saying he wasn’t really sure (about returning to Cal). I said, ‘OK,’ and called the NBA the next day and told them to tear it up.”

Abdur-Rahim, 19, will attend the draft in East Rutherford, N.J., and is expected to be chosen second by Toronto or third by Vancouver.

The situation at Cal is murky, at best. According to the university, the NCAA is scouring for rules violations involving former guard Jelani Gardner and/or the possibility that student-athletes received special benefits.

The NCAA declared former Cal forward Tremaine Fowlkes ineligible for 14 games last season, after learning he accepted money from a former agent for the purchase of a car. Fowlkes has since left Cal and plans to play at Fresno State.

Also, the NCAA looked into the recruitment of Abdur-Rahim, finding Cal was guilty of a minor infraction - inadvertent contact between Bozeman and Abdur-Rahim during a non-recruiting visit Abdur-Rahim took to Berkeley.

Bozeman expects similar results from this investigation. “I feel very confident about this,” he said.