January 26, 2005

HS football coach claims Kentucky, Georgia & Alabama paid him off

At the trial of Alabama booster Logan Young, which Robert mentioned earlier today, former Memphis area high school coach Lynn Lang dropped a whopper saying that not just Alabama, but Kentucky and Georgia paid him cash among other things to steer specific players in each school's direction.

He also stated that Michigan State, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi offered money but never paid.

More on this story from the AP

Under cross examination by defense lawyer James Neal on Wednesday, Lang added Memphis to the list of schools that offered him a deal, testifying that then-coach Rip Scherer said he would arrange for Lang's wife to attend law school for free at the university.

Lang also told jurors that Arkansas offered him either an assistant coaching job worth more than $80,000 a year or $150,000 in cash if he delivered Means and another player.

Means, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, previously testified that he let Lang choose his college.

Lang said he began shopping Means around to various colleges in 1999 when he realized how many schools wanted him.

Lang testified that former Kentucky recruiting coordinator Claude Bassett gave $7,000 for work at a camp and a Means visit to campus, and that former Georgia head coach Jim Donnan gave $700 cash for work at a camp. He testified that Bill Harper, a Georgia booster from Memphis, gave him a $100 bill.

But he said that when he was referred to Young by former Crimson Tide assistant coach Ivy Williams, he started the bidding for Means at $50,000. Young "took to it like water," Lang said.

Lang, who made less than $30,000 at Trezevant High, said he kept upping the price until it reached $150,000, which he received in a series of payments each smaller than $10,000, the threshold at which bank transactions must be reported.

Young told him that since the payments were in cash, "If anything happened, it was his word against mine," Lang testified.