August 16, 2011
A Yahoo! report mentions WKU Basketball assistant coach Jake Morton in a scandal dealing with possible recruiting violations while he coached at the University of Miami.
According to the report, Miami booster Nevin Shapiro says he paid $10,000 to help secure the commitment of recruit
DeQuan Jones. Shapiro went on to say in the report "the transaction was set up by assistant coach Jake Morton in 2007 who acted as the conduit for the funds, and was later acknowledged by head coach Frank Haith in a one-on-one conversation."
WKU athletic director Ross Bjork released the following statement Tuesday evening in regards to the Yahoo! article:
“We are aware of the allegation related to Jake Morton, and he denies any wrong doing. Jake came to us highly recommended, Ken McDonald and I both did our homework during the interview process, and Jake passed our background checks before we hired him. These allegations occurred while Jake was a member of the University of Miami basketball coaching staff. We will cooperate completely and accordingly with the NCAA and the University of Miami during their investigations.”
Update: Frank Haith, who is currently the head coach at the University of Missouri, was the head coach at Miami when Shapiro claims these wrongdoings occured. He released the following statement on Tuesday:
"In response to a recent news article, I can confirm that the NCAA has asked to speak with me regarding the time I spent at the University of Miami. I am more than happy to cooperate with the national office on this issue and look forward to a quick resolution. The NCAA has instructed me not to comment further at this time in order to protect the integrity of their review, so I appreciate your understanding in this matter. The reports questioning my personal interactions with Mr. Shapiro are not an accurate portrayal of my character and per the above I am unable to comment further."
