Improper payment cited

Eastern Washington University has forwarded an outside investigation into its men’s basketball program to the NCAA with proposed self-imposed sanctions that include the loss of one scholarship for two years.

The investigation was prompted when Denny Humphrey, a former volunteer coach who was paid to help in EWU summer basketball camps, was given a $6,000 increase in that pay after his son, Rhett, was taken off scholarship by recently fired coach Mike Burns last spring.

Humphrey believes the increased camp money, which he expected again this summer, was to cover the cost of his son’s lost scholarship. Burns insists Humphrey was merely compensated for past underpaid work and loyalty to the university.

The investigation by Spokane attorney Karen Harwood, obtained by The Spokesman-Review, found no “preponderance of evidence” to indicate wrongdoing by Burns. The report states that Burns “walked very close to the edge in this matter and exhibited poor judgment.”

Because of that, among the six penalties Eastern Washington has proposed includes Humphrey repay $6,000, the basketball team reduce scholarships from 13 to 12 for the next two seasons and a full-time camp coordinator be hired.

“I haven’t seen it so I can’t make any comment,” Humphrey said of the report, alluding to the possibility of returning the money to the university.

Interim athletic director Michael Westfall said the NCAA has to agree to the proposed sanctions and one remaining scholarship the Eagles have will not be awarded until the NCAA makes a decision. That scholarship became available when star sophomore Rodney Stuckey recently hired an agent and officially made himself available to the National Basketball Association draft.

Westfall also reiterated that firing Burns on Wednesday with two years remaining on his $95,000-a-year contract had nothing to do with potential NCAA sanctions.

“The separation was due to the direction of the program, period,” he said.

After playing at Whitworth and Wenatchee Valley College, Rhett Humphrey planned to walk on for the 2005-06 season at EWU, where his father had been an unpaid administrative assistant since retiring in 2002 after a Hall of Fame high school career that included 532 wins in 34 seasons.

During summer 2005, when a scholarship became available, Burns surprised the family by awarding it to Rhett.

After the 2005-06 season, Burns chose to give the scholarship to another player. NCAA athletic scholarships are awarded for one academic year only, unless renewed.

“I went along, thinking it would help,” said Denny Humphrey, who would quit his volunteer position last December.

He said his impression of the oral agreement made with Burns was “we were promised a full scholarship.”

According to the investigator’s report, “Burns, however, adamantly denies that he made the statements attributed to him. Rather, he says that he told Humphrey that he would be able to provide some additional compensation during the summer to help him out since he had worked with the camp for so long without much pay and had traveled with the team during the preceding season, spending his own money to do so.”

Last summer Humphrey, who received $1,000 for working previous camps, earned $7,000 for working two weeks and expected a similar amount for 2007, enough to cover an EWU scholarship valued at $12,174 by the investigator.

The unwritten agreement came to light when the first payment, “$1,000 for me and $6,000 for Rhett,” according to Humphrey, was delayed until the fall because of some paperwork issues that associate athletic director Mike Allen addressed.

Asked if he was worried about the legality of the arrangement, Humphrey said, “I went to Pam’s (associate athletic director Pam Parks) office twice and she said it was on the up and up.”

“The way I understood it, from the people involved, and that included Denny, is Denny earned that money from working those camps. Judging by how much Denny was around and how much he worked (the amount didn’t seem out of line),” Allen said.

Parks told the investigator she did not recall the meetings.

As part of the proposed self-imposed sanctions, Allen and Parks were given letters of expectations and must attend educational classes, along with coaches.

Eastern’s report to the NCAA included a response from Burns. His attorney, Brad Williams, said, “We stand by that.”

Burns said he did not agree with all the details, but he agreed with the conclusion no NCAA violations occurred.

“At this time, I strongly believe the university has diligently investigated this matter and reached the same conclusion in two separate inquiries. I would request this matter be closed,” he added.