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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 16, 1994                   TAG: 9403160070
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Short

ANOTHER SUIT FILED OVER UVA LOAN SCANDAL

The former head of the Virginia Student Aid Foundation has filed another lawsuit that charges he lost his job because two University of Virginia officials mishandled an NCAA probe into illegal loans.

Thomas E. "Ted" Davenport was fired in 1992 as the foundation's executive vice president in charge of special fund raising. He was accused of making at least 30 loans to student-athletes between 1982 and 1990 that violated National Collegiate Athletic Association rules.

The suit is the fourth Davenport has filed since his firing. A $4 million libel suit against university President John Casteen was dismissed in Albemarle County Circuit Court, as was a $175,000 suit against the foundation for wrongfully firing him. The Supreme Court of Virginia refused in August to hear appeals of either case.

Davenport, 65, reached an out-of-court settlement in a separate suit against Birdwood golf course, which also dismissed him after the scandal.

Davenport's $1.5 million suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, contends Casteen and athletic director Jim Copeland violated his civil rights by going public with unsubstantiated allegations that later cost him his job.

Louise Dudley, director of university relations, said Monday that neither Casteen nor Copeland had been served notice of the suit.

The NCAA placed the school on probation for two years and reduced the number of football scholarships for two years.

The NCAA forbids athletes from receiving benefits unavailable to other students.

by CNB