Posted on 02/19/2004 10:17:27 AM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Gary Barnett, the University of Colorado's head football coach, is in the midst of a college recruiting sex scandal, which has stirred up allegations regarding Barnett's tenure at Northwestern University.
Barnett said he knows nothing about allegations at Colorado that strippers were used to entice recruits to enroll. One former Northwestern player says the same thing happened to him when Barnett was coach of the Wildcats, but that player also says Barnett never knew recruits were enticed by exotic dancers.
David Beazley won two Big Ten championships at Northwestern as part of two teams Barnett led to the Rose Bowl. He says the recruits made the requests for strippers and those requests were fulfilled without the coaching staff's knowledge.
Beazley clearly remembers his four visits to the Northwestern campus and the desire of many young recruits to have some adult fun.
"You gotta realize, these are 17- and 18-year-old guys," Beazley said. "And things they want to do are to see exotic dancers."
Beazley says on several occasions, hosts would pool their money together for adult dancers.
Northwestern officials told NBC5's Rob Elgas that such activities have never been condoned. Former players say the recruiting process is a delicate balance of don't ask, don't tell. Often times, coaches have no idea what's going on off the field.
"The nightlife can't be supervised," Beazley said. "These men have families to go home to, and there's no way to keep tabs on the players."
In Colorado, university officials are conducting an internal investigation, largely because the scandal is much deeper than stripping. Allegations of rape by a former female player have shocked the athletic department at Colorado.
"Coach Barnett, as long as I've know him, is an honest man," Beazley said. "I believe he didn't know what was going on."
Barnett insists former female place kicker Katie Hnida never came forward to tell the staff she was the victim of an assault. She now kicks for the University of New Mexico and says she does not plan to file charges in Colorado.
It's just harmless fun. It gets the lads ready for the strippers, prostitutes, and gamblers if they finally make the pros.
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