Tennessee disciplines Fulmer for rules violation

Posted 7:09AM on Thursday 18th April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - University of Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer has been admonished by the school for rules violations involving a former player. The football team has forfeited two scholarships as a result, school officials said Wednesday night. Fulmer was found to have violated a rule because of an improper, 15-minute meeting with Richard ``Juicy'' Locke, Eric Locke's father, on June 7, 1999. At that time, Eric Locke had left the University of Alabama, where he had played one season, but had not been released from his scholarship. Alabama compliance officials say Locke was never given a release. A letter of admonishment, which is considered less severe than a reprimand, will go in Fulmer's file, Athletic Director Doug Dickey said Wednesday. Dickey said the Southeastern Conference accepted the penalties and that everything was finalized Wednesday night. ``This is a secondary violation. This is not a major violation,'' Dickey said. ``The NCAA has assured us that this is the end of the case.'' In addition to the loss of scholarships, Fulmer is banned from going on the road during the evaluation period in May. The school will be allowed to sign 23 recruits instead of the customary 25 next February. ``Based on this information, this is a closed matter,'' Dickey told The Tennessean newspaper. ``That's not to say new information couldn't come up.'' In a statement released through the university, Fulmer said, ``Just as I ask my players and coaches to be accountable for their actions, so am I. While I do not agree with the severity of the penalties, especially the loss of scholarships, I understand that by the letter of the rule I should have stopped the unexpected casual meeting which led to the violation.'' ``We've always strived to run a clean program here, and we will continue to run a clean program,'' Fulmer said, declining to comment further. Tennessee officials said Richard Locke requested the meeting with Fulmer and the coach discussed NCAA transfer rules with him. ``The meeting was not abrupt enough,'' Dickey told The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Eric Locke, a former star player at Riverdale High in Murfreesboro, eventually enrolled at Tennessee, sat out one season as a transfer and played for the Vols in 2000. Locke, a receiver, was dismissed from the team in March 2001 by Fulmer after admitting to stealing a teammate's ATM card and making $2,400 in cash withdrawals.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/195824