UCLA Sports Info Senior tailback DeShaun Foster
will miss UCLA’s game vs. Oregon.
By Scott Bair and Hannah
Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter UCLA senior tailback DeShaun Foster, a Heisman
trophy candidate, was declared ineligible for competition by the
university due to a possible “extra benefits”
violation. He will miss Saturday’s game against Oregon at the
Rose Bowl. “We were made aware by the NCAA of a possible
violation in connection with DeShaun and have had to declare him
ineligible for this week’s game,” Dalis said in a
statement. Foster was unavailable for comment. The NCAA received
e-mails a few weeks ago alerting them to the possible violation.
The NCAA conducted a preliminary investigation and notified
athletic director Peter Dalis Tuesday of its findings. Dalis is a
member of the NCAA enforcement staff. An NCAA investigator met with
Foster, Dalis and head coach Bob Toledo Wednesday. “The NCAA
official came to Los Angeles today to interview some people and was
asking for our support to have DeShaun available which we
did,” Dalis said. The NCAA investigator asked Foster a series
of questions about the possible “extra benefits”
violation. “(Foster) admitted that a benefit had come his
way, but I’m not sure he was aware that it was wrong,”
Dalis said. Dalis denied that the benefit came from an agent or a
booster but would not comment further on the violation. It is
standard NCAA procedure for a player to miss 10-percent of the
season in cases involving “extra benefits” violations.
This constitutes one game of a football season. Foster will
definitely miss Saturday’s contest against Oregon, and there
is no timetable for his return. “I went through the JaRon
Rush situation so I’m very suspect of the conditions that
prevail in these circumstances,” said Dalis, referring to the
former UCLA basketball player who was suspended by the NCAA in
1999. UCLA must compile and submit a report to the NCAA by Friday.
The report will include the facts of the case and a request that
Foster’s eligibilty be restored. This is the second possible
“extra benefits” violation UCLA has dealt with in the
past month. UCLA declared All-American women’s volleyball
player Kristee Porter ineligible and filed a reinstatement request
on Oct. 19. As of Wednesday, she has yet to be reinstated. Contrary
to Foster’s case, Porter notified the university of a
possible violation herself. Foster did not practice Wednesday and
apologized to his teammates through Toledo. Toledo informed the
team of Foster’s suspension before Wednesday’s
practice. “It was shocking to them. It’s a surprise and
unfortunately a distraction,” Toledo said. Foster’s
teammates had the same reaction. “What do you say? He’s
our leader,” senior defensive end Kenyon Coleman said.
Coleman also sympathized with the difficulties of being a student
athlete. “Of course it’s hard to say no when people
want to give you things,” he said. “The NCAA rules are
somewhat artificial in our society,” Dalis added. “If
it happened in any other context, no one would be questioning it.
But if you gain a benefit because you are an athlete based upon the
rules that we live under you have to pay the penalty.” The
whole team will pay the penalty on Saturday. Foster accounts for
35-percent of the offense, totalling 1109 rushing yards this
season. Sophomore tailback Akil Harris took repetitions with the
first team and will start in Foster’s place Saturday. Harris
has averaged 7.6 yards a carry in limited action, on only 19
carries this season. Harris and fellow tailback redshirt freshman
Manuel White must carry the load in Foster’s absence.
“I just have to focus on filling his shoes. They’re big
shoes to fill,” White said. Foster is the nation’s
third leading rusher, but this off-field distraction could cost
him. “Those of you who have children ““ always tell them
what’s right and what’s wrong,” Toledo said.
“You tell them that the fire is hot and not to put their hand
in it, but a lot of times they need to find out for themselves and
put their hand in the fire. I’m extremely
disappointed.”