ATLANTA, Ga. — A long-time friend of former Memphis Tigers basketball coach Josh Pastner is accusing him of under reporting rule violations to the NCAA, CBS Sports reported.
Just last week, Georgia Tech self-reported the violations to the league and even suspended Josh Okogie and Tadric Jackson. They said the two players allegedly accepted clothes, meals and transportation benefits totaling $525 and $750, respectively.
Georgia Tech didn’t identify the person who provided the benefits, but said it was the same individual in both cases.
On Tuesday, Ron Bell told CBS Sports he was the one who provide the benefits, but says the school — and Pastner — didn’t report everything to the league. He claimed he gave the student athletes more than the amount listed by Georgia Tech, and that the school’s claim that the head coach didn’t know anything about the violations prior to October 2 is false.
Furthermore, he said he believes Pastner self-reported the violations after he threatened to expose the coach during a phone conversation in early October.
“And basically what [Pastner] told me is, ‘Nobody is going to believe you because you were in prison, and I’ve never been to prison, and I have a great reputation, and I don’t cheat,'” Bell said. “And I said, ‘You don’t cheat?’ Yes, you do. Yes, you do.'”
Pastner released a statement saying, “As I have throughout my career, I remain committed to following NCAA rules. Any allegations that NCAA rules weren’t followed will be investigated thoroughly by our compliance department while I focus on coaching my team.”