
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 22, 1990                   TAG: 9004220184
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Scott Blanchard/Sportswriter
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

NEW CAR PUTS COLES ON HOT SEAT

Former Virginia Tech basketball star Bimbo Coles may have to pay the school the balance of his scholarship if he has accepted money from his agent, athletic director Dave Braine said Saturday.

Braine said the school is checking on whether Coles' agent, Boston-based Bob Woolf, helped Coles purchase a new car. Braine said NCAA rules dictate that if a player takes money from an agent while still in school, he no longer can receive scholarship money.

Coles said Saturday that he preferred not to comment until after he meets with Braine about the matter on Monday. A source familiar with the matter said Woolf made the down payment on Coles' new Nissan sports car.

Braine said the amount Coles would have to pay the school "amounts to about $110." An out-of-state scholarship at Tech costs about $8,000, Braine said, but the value decreases as the semester progresses. Classes end on April 25.

"Bimbo knew it, and his agent knew it, too," said Braine, who said Tech assistant athletic director Steve Horton informed them of the rules governing college players and agents. "[But] there's a question as to if he really has taken any money. [That] has to be verified before Bimbo is charged anything at all."

by CNB