Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 16, 1993 TAG: 9304160025
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ALLEGATIONS STING OAK HILL
Reports of possible violations in the recruiting of 6-foot-9 basketball player Makhtar Ndiaye brought much dismay to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson on Thursday.Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman said in a statement Wednesday the school is investigating allegations made by James Davies of Greensboro, N.C.
Davies, an interpreter, said he was offered money to assist in the recruiting of Ndiaye, who signed with Wake in November.
"Anything that happened, if it did happen, did not happen here," Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said Thursday. "All these players we've had here who have been recruited . . . there's never been any suggestion of impropriety."
Staff members at Oak Hill were most disturbed by charges, attributed to Davies, that Wake Forest endorsed a check for $250 to Smith's wife, Lisa, to buy clothes for Ndiaye.
"We never, ever got a check," Steve Smith said.
Lisa Smith said she went with Ndiaye, who is from Senegal, to buy clothes shortly after his arrival at Oak Hill in the fall.
"All of our students have an account with the school," said Lisa Smith, who is a secretary at Oak Hill. "We went by the office and charged the money to his account.
"If you saw his account, it would still show a deficit. The way it's done, if the charges are not paid by the end of the year, his father will be billed for it."
One reason Ndiaye needed clothes was the Oak Hill dress code.
"It didn't take Makhtar long to become friends with the other players and students," Lisa Smith said, "and it was important for him not to be different. He didn't want to go to church unless he had a tie.
"Maybe I shouldn't say anything, but when you say `no comment,' sometimes people think you have something to hide. We don't have anything to hide.
"What ticks me off is, it makes us [the Smiths] look bad and it makes Oak Hill look bad. For anybody to say they sent us a check is out and out untrue."
Ndiaye was on his way to an all-star game and could not be reached for comment.
Davies told the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer that he provided lodging, transportation, meals and $300 in cash to Ndiaye.
Oak Hill principal Ed Patton said he had investigated the situation and also had welcomed an outside investigating team, whose identity he would not reveal.
"Steve and Lisa Smith would not be a part of anything that lacks integrity and I will defend them to the nth degree," he said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.