Former tutor says LSU paid her to tutor football player

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - A former LSU tutor said she was paid to tutor football player Nate Livings before he was enrolled, an apparent violation of NCAA rules, a newspaper reported. <br> <br> LSU paid Shannon O&#39;Bryan for the tutoring last semester at the university&#39;s Academic Center for Student-Athletes, O&#39;Bryan told The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune. <br> <br> Providing prospective student-athletes with athletic department tutors is a violation of NCAA rules, NCAA spokeswoman Laronica Conway said. <br> <br> The University of Arkansas violated NCAA rules in 1995 when three prospective student-athletes received free tutoring, according to documents obtained by The Times-Picayune last week. The issue was resolved when the athletes reimbursed the university for the tutoring sessions. <br> <br> The documents were part of an investigation LSU began in January into alleged academic misconduct by athletes and the Academic Center for Student-Athletes. Southeastern Conference Commissioner Roy Kramer is expected to decide whether the findings warrant involvement by the NCAA. <br> <br> Livings first enrolled at the university this spring as a part-time student, the LSU Registrar&#39;s office said. Livings, who signed letters-of-intent three times to play at LSU before becoming eligible this semester, had been taking classes he needed in order to be declared eligible. <br> <br> Livings enrolled in six classes in 2001 at the LSU high school independent study department: world geography, both semesters of 10th-grade English, civics, American history first semester and free enterprise. <br> <br> Livings, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman from Lake Charles, was academically ineligible in 2000 and 2001. After Livings failed to make it before the 2001 season, LSU compliance director Bo Bahnsen said Livings could sign a scholarship again in the winter if he qualified, which he did. <br> <br> The investigation became public after an attorney representing a kinesiology department instructor came forward with allegations of plagiarism by student-athletes. Similar allegations also were made later in a lawsuit by former LSU graduate student Caroline Owen. <br> <br> Livings couldn&#39;t be reached for comment. LSU officials said they couldn&#39;t comment because of the ongoing investigation.