TAMPA, Fla. -- The University of South Florida's men's basketball program has violated numerous NCAA rules over the past months, a former USF assistant coach, former USF players and other school sources told FanHouse.Most of the NCAA violations involve USF video and conditioning assistant Terrelle Woody, who was hired Aug. 26, 2008, in a non-coaching position by USF coach Stan Heath (right) as part of a package deal to guarantee the signing of highly touted Maryland transfer Gus Gilchrist.
The violations include Woody providing transportation to student-athletes, watching "open gyms," coaching players and illegally working out USF players.
Heath, who is 23-41 and in his third season at USF, denied the allegations or said he had no knowledge of them.
"You want to keep nickel and diming him," Heath said. "All this little [crap] ... I don't know what this is all about. It's stupid."
Besides the alleged violations, three current USF players -- Dominique Jones, Anthony Crater and Justin Leemow -- were the primary suspects in the April 2009 theft of nearly $8,000 worth of items stolen from former players Gaby Belardo and Jesus Verdejo, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office report. The father of one of the victims said he believes that Heath never contacted the police about the burglary to protect the current players. The items have not been recovered and no charges were filed."You want to keep nickel and diming him. All this little [crap] ... I don't know what this is all about. It's stupid."
-- South Florida coach Stan Heath
Among USF's alleged NCAA violations:
-- On May 20, 2009, Woody was providing transportation to Gilchrist when Woody's car was involved in an accident a few miles from campus. Woody and Gilchrist were treated at the University Community Hospital's emergency room in Tampa and discharged that night, said UCH spokesman Will Darnell.
"It was raining," Heath said about that specific instance. "Gus was at the supermarket and didn't have a way home."
But the incident was not isolated. Since arriving at USF, Woody has provided transportation to Gilchrist so frequently around town and to and from campus that USF's players joked that Woody was Gilchrist's "personal valet."
The NCAA allows "reasonable local transportation" to student-athletes, but only on an "occasional" basis.
-- At the end of the 2009 spring semester in late April/early May, Woody provided transportation for Gilchrist by driving him from Tampa to Gilchrist's home in Maryland, USF sources said.
-- Woody also provided transportation for Gilchrist to Orlando, Fla., to attend at least two Orlando Magic games, including Game 4 of the NBA Finals on June 11, 2009, USF sources said. It's unknown how they paid for the tickets.
Heath said he was "not aware" of Woody driving Gilchrist to Maryland or Orlando and said Woody and Gilchrist denied attending any Magic games.
-- On Aug. 25, 2009, a reporter witnessed nine USF players practicing with basketballs in the Sun Dome, while Heath, assistant Jeremy Cox and Woody watched. Coaches may attend workouts once school has begun, but NCAA rules prohibit more than four players in the gym at a time with a basketball until Sept. 15, 2009.
"I never did that," Heath said.
-- A reporter witnessed on three different occasions -- May 6, May 9 and Aug. 24, 2009 -- Woody, sitting near mid-court, watching USF's players participate in "open gym" workouts involving a basketball, which is not allowed under NCAA rules.
Heath said he was not aware of Woody watching open gym.
-- Between April 2008 and October 2009, out of season, Woody "organized and watched pick-up games" about three times a week, USF sources said. The games also included non-USF players.
"I don't think that's true," Heath said. "Now, he has the ability if other [non-USF] guys are in there to make sure there's no issues, no problems, no fighting -- for protection. So he can pop in to make sure everything's OK and then pop out. But he's not sitting in there."
NCAA rules prohibit members of the coaching or basketball administrative staff from attending "open gyms" during the off-season.
Former assistant coach Byron Samuels said it was common knowledge about Woody's involvement in "open gyms."
"Sure, absolutely Woody coordinated open gyms in the preseason and then after the season was over and occasionally when we had in recruits in town," Samuels said. "I know this: He handled that situation, setting up open gyms at times, players from a lot of different places were there."
Other USF sources said Woody "frequently reported to Heath," which players participated in the open gyms and how they were performing.
The alleged violations aren't the first for USF's program. In the past two years, USF reported committing six secondary NCAA violations in the men's basketball program.
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Woody's relationship with Gilchrist goes back four years and they've been aligned since. In that time, Gilchrist attended two high schools and signed letters-of-intent with three universities. During Gilchrist's recruitment last year, Woody said he was Gilchrist's "personal trainer, adviser and spokesman." On his wedding day on April 19, 2008, Woody, then 38, even had Gilchrist, then 18, serve as his best man.
Two months after Gilchrist signed with USF, Woody was hired. Woody, who does not have a college degree, receives a $30,000 salary. According to his job description provided by USF, Woody's job duties include recording games of upcoming opponents, making sure the televisions in the coaches' offices are connected to DirectTV and assisting a certified strength and conditioning coach.
Less than two weeks after Woody's wedding, he accompanied Gilchrist and his parents for an unofficial recruiting visit to USF. While on the visit, Woody worked at Heath's USF basketball camps. During the summer, Heath said he paid Woody $1,000 for working two camps and allowed Woody to stay at his house.
That was allowable then under NCAA rules at the time, but last month the NCAA approved new rules that prohibit coaches from employing a person associated with a prospective student-athlete at a camp or clinic. Also, legislation aimed at stopping so-called package deals has been sponsored by the NCAA's board of directors and is expected to pass next April.
Woody, who was hired in a non-coaching role, also routinely "coached" USF's players, two former players and a former assistant coach said.
Eladio Espinosa, who played for USF last season but transferred to Marshall in May, said Woody would come in the lockerroom at halftime while the Bulls' coaching staff would wait outside discussing strategy and adjustments for a few minutes. Heath said Woody did not enter the locker room without the other coaches.
"When we came into the locker room at halftime, Coach Woody was always telling us what we could do," Espinosa said. "Against Georgetown [on Feb. 18, 2009], he told the guards when they drove to get the ball to the bigs and we did that to start the second half and came back. He was always helping us that way."
Added Samuels, a former USF assistant: "I think it would be fair to say -- prior to games and at halftimes -- Woody tried to put his coaching hat on."
Belardo, who transferred to Canisius College after the 2008-09 season, said Woody frequently coached and worked out the players on his own.
"Coach Woody was always trying to make you better," Belardo said. "When coaches were there, he was there. When the coaches weren't there, he was always in the gym. You could call him anytime and he would work out with you on your game."
Replied Heath: "I guess [their] interpretation of coaching is different than mine. Any bozo can say 'You need to run harder. Hey those big guys are open.' That's not coaching."
Woody also routinely worked out non-USF players in early morning or late night workouts in one of USF's two gymnasiums, Samuels said. Among the players Woody worked out on USF's facilities was Denver Nuggets forward Renaldo Balkman and former college players Rashaad Singleton (Florida Southern) and Jerel Davis (Talladega, Ala., College). However, Woody did not rent out the facilities, school sources said.
Woody did the same thing while Gilchrist was at the University of Maryland, a UM senior associate athletic director said.
In 2008 when Gilchrist was attending Maryland, senior associate athletic director Kathleen Worthington discovered Woody was working out Gilchrist and other Maryland players in the Comcast Center without paying rental fees for the facility.
Worthington said she then notified Gilchrist and the other Maryland players that they couldn't use Woody as a personal trainer on campus unless they paid rental fees for the facility. Woody immediately stopped showing up, Worthington said.
A few weeks later, Gilchrist announced he was transferring from Maryland and soon after Gilchrist and Woody both ended up at USF.
Contact FanHouse reporter Brett McMurphy at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
College players have to be able to read and write, both they and "coaches" must follow the rules, and regular coaches must be convinced that they are not above the law.
You can't fix stupid. (NCAA please take note)
So right! "Well, I read the rules different than what NCAA does" doesn't work.
Heck, the NCAA has proposed striping FSU of 14 football wins because of similar, but academic, violations.
what do you have against USF? You never wrote anything positive when you were the beat writer, and I can see that trend continues.
These are baseless, yet endless allegations. Fired Brett McMurphy continuing to grind the axe against his former team, bitter to the end. This slanderous speech will be dealt with in the appropriate manner by the University of South Florida. See you soon in court, Brett!
These allegations are baseless, yet endless. All three 'sources' have well-established vendettas against USF, including one fired Brett McMurphy continuing to grind the axe against his former team. This type of slander will be dealt with in the appropriate manner by The University of South Florida.
Final straw, Brett. See you in court and you'll live to regret this article!
deny deny deny, all the charges arent true? come on
Well, congrats Brett. You've been trying to bring down USF athletics for years. It didn't work with the football program, so you've moved on to basketball. We'll see if these allegations are any more true than the ones you've tried to create in the past. Good luck to you.
Bitter much, Brett? I don't argue the facts of what you present, but stories like this are why you were fired. Not that it's true anymore, but as a team blogger your audience is the fans of the program.
seems like this move to fanhouse should have you writing about national stories instead of regurging all the notes you took while following the USF program. Are you still a beatwriter?
If it turns out that Woody and Gilchrist are dating, are the bulk of these still violations?
Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.
The NCAA is a joke, every university in the USA has put in place academic courses for athletes that any ninth grader in a good school could pass.
It is a joke just how low a upscale university will sink to fiels decent sports teams, especially football and basketball.
Terrelle Woody is pond scum. When he got his hooks into Gus Gilchrist a few years ago, he basically tried to blackmail Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg, with whom Gilchrist had already signed an LOI, into paying up for the use of "his" star player. When Greenberg told him to go pound sand, he talked Gilchrist into sitting out a year to get out of the LOI that he'd signed with VT and then transfer to Maryland, presumably because he'd found some boosters there who he believed would funnel him the cash he wanted. Once he got to Maryland and found out that the Maryland people wouldn't kiss his a$$ either, then he started shopping Gilchrist around until he found some just as scummy as he is in Stan Heath and USF who were willing to pay up.
I hope the NCAA investigates these allegations and absolutely crucifies them all. The USF basketball program deserves to be hit with a multi-year suspension and a significant loss of scholarships. It's painfully obvious that the basketball staff at USF regards rules as merely inconveniences that can be ignored.
Great article. Woody and USF need to be exposed nationally. Other universities have been punished severely for lesser violations.
Wow, racist comments! Who would have guessed.
As for the article, who are you people who think the writer simply has an axe to grind? There is both a reported crime and quotes from named sources... anyone following the Gilchrist saga knows Woody's really shady.
Great story mcmurphy. it has about as much credibility as your story on Jarrid Famous wanting out of usf. Looks like you also refused to get comments from reputable sources, just like the Famous story. Great reporting.
can you imagine having i.q. goals of 100 or more how would we have college basketball teams
As a USF grad, I have to say that if these allegations are proven to be true, then USF deserves to be disciplined to the fullest extent of the law.
I mean, if the program is this program is cheating, at least cheat WELL. Don't cheat yourself to the bottom of the BIG EAST where you would have been without 'pay for play' players and hangers-on.
As much promise as the Stan Heath Era started with, I have to say, I prefer MacCallum.
The NCAA should test the "athletes" to see if they have IQ's above 40. If they do, let them play!
I think brandon jennings did it right, he went to europe for 1 year and is now starring in the NBA. College basketball doesn't prepare you for the pros and these kids should be paid for their work. It's too hypocritical to watch it anymore. NBA should set up a minor league and PAY. College sports should be played by students, not semi-pros who have no interest in school.
Agree with you dkaz. It's extremely hypocritical of the NCAA to call many of these players, "Student athletes," especially when they're putting in their mandatory one year of college apprenticeship in order to be elligible for the NBA.