By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Reporter
UCLA senior outside hitter Kristee Porter was declared
ineligible tocompete by the university before Friday’s match
against the No. 3 USC Trojans.
Concerned that an expense-sharing arrangement with a part-time
roommate in her off-campus apartment might be an inadvertent
acceptance of benefits,a violation of NCAA rules, Porter informed
head coach Andy Banachowskion Wednesday of her situation. The
university conducted an investigation and sent a report to the NCAA
Friday that included a request restore Porter’s eligibility.
Porter was in uniform for Friday night’s five-game loss, but
UCLA chose not to play the two-time All-American so that the
integrity of the matchwould not be compromised if the NCAA were to
find Porter guilty of a violation.
"We were hoping that we were going to be able to get a ruling
before the game and get everything straightened out, but it didn’t
work out that way,"
Banachowski said. "So in the best interests of the team, we held
her out of the game."
UCLA associate athletic director Betsy Stephenson added the
following:"Nothing we have identified right now has anything to do
with anything related to amateurism or pay-for-play or anything
like that. It has to do with a friend providing her something and
whether the friend meets the NCAA definition of a pre-existing
relationship, and we don’t think it does."
Porter was unavailable for comment Friday night.
A statement released Friday by the UCLA Athletic Department
stated that the relationship between the student-athlete and friend
must pre-date the student-athlete’s status as a prospect. Porter
became acquainted with the
friend after enrolling at UCLA.
The friend is not a UCLA student, and the Athletic Department
does not believe that the friend is a sports agent, involved with
the activities of an agent or a booster.
According to Stephenson the situation between Porter and her
friend was commonplace among the student body as a whole and was
not unique to athletes.
Stephenson was unclear whether games Porter competed in earlier
in the season might have to be forfeited, but declared it unlikely
due to the fact the team learned of possible violations only
Wednesday.
Also unclear to Stephenson was whether Porter’s status as a UCLA
basketball player and member of the track and field team could be
called into question.
UCLA women’s basketball head coach Kathy Olivier attended
Friday’s match.
"She’s young, and she knows that she did something wrong,"
Olivier said."And now, unfortunately, she has to pay for it."
The Athletic Department hopes to hear back on the matter from
the NCAA early next week. The Bruins play next at Arizona State on
Thursday andface No. 7 Arizona Friday in Tucson.
"We’ll just wait and see what the NCAA has to say," Banachowski
said. "Hopefully we’ll get about with this quickly."
With reports from Diamond Leung and Christina Teller, Daily
Bruin Senior Staff.