January 24, 2005
Trial of Disassociated Alabama Booster Begins Today
The eyes of the SEC football world will likely look away from the white-hot recruiting process and at least cast a passing gaze on a federal courtroom in Memphis this week. There, the racketeering trial of former Alabama booster Logan Young begins today.
Young was accused of bribing the Memphis-area high school coaches of defensive end Albert Means in 2000 to steer the high-acclaimed recruit to Tuscaloosa. (Means enrolled at Alabama, but later transferred to the University of Memphis.) The recruitment of Means was central to the NCAA investigation and resulting sanctions imposed on the Crimson Tide football program.
Throughout the process, Young has maintained his innocence. Charges of a conspiracy between Tennessee and the NCAA to bring down Alabama and Logan Young have swirled around this case, and it is expected that a number of questions will be answered by this trial.
Columnist Doug Segrest of the Birmingham News contends, "This may not be the trial of the century, but for college football it's pretty darn close."
A Young acquittal would cast serious doubt on the validity of the NCAA's case against Alabama (if not totally exonerate the school) and call into the question the integrity of the NCAA's investigative processes. It would also provide momentum to the glut of lawsuits against the NCAA by former coaches who believe their reputations were ruined by poorly-run scandal investigations.
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OldTiger60 says:
posted on January 28, 2005 03:02 PM — linkHe is as guilty as sin and/or OJ but his high-powered and expensive legal team will probablly win a not guilty verdect.
