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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Lawyers for a businessman charged with paying $150,000 to get a top football recruit to sign with Alabama began calling witnesses Friday to attack the testimony of the government's chief witness.
Ivy Williams, a former assistant coach at Alabama, denied suggesting that defensive lineman Albert Means get a stand-in to take his college entrance exam before signing with the Crimson Tide in 2000.
And former Georgia coach Jim Donnan denied giving money to Lynn Lang, Means' former high school coach.
Donnan said he broke off discussions on recruiting Means when Lang started talking about wanting expensive cars.
The testimony came at businessman Logan Young's federal court trial on bribery and money laundering charges.
Lang testified earlier in the week that Young paid him in a series of cash handouts each under the $10,000 threshold for IRS reporting.
Under prosecution questioning, Williams acknowledged telling the NCAA that while he knew Young, he had talked with him "10 or 12 times at the most."
He also acknowledged telling a grand jury he talked with Young more than 200 times.
After his testimony, Donnan said in a courthouse hallway that he and several other coaches talked among themselves about the need for an NCAA review of recruiting at Alabama, including Means' signing.
The other coaches, he said, included Phillip Fulmer of Tennessee; Steve Spurrier, formerly of Florida and now with South Carolina; Houston Nutt of Arkansas and former Mississippi coach David Cutcliffe, now an assistant at Notre Dame.
"We weren't for sure what happened," Donnan said. "We were just talking about the need for it to be investigated."
USF LOSES RECRUITS: Two potential signees, cornerback Dwight Flukerberry and linebacker Garrett White of Miami Norland, made oral commitments to North Carolina. The two were choosing between USF and UNC, though the Bulls got a commitment from Norland defensive end Gary Watts on Thursday.
- GREG AUMAN, Times staff writer
SENIOR BOWL: Georgia's David Greene won a major college record 42 games as a starting quarterback. He's hoping those credentials will overcome whatever doubts NFL teams might have.
"I'm not a flashy quarterback," said Greene, who will play in the Senior Bowl Saturday. "I tend to think I've been on good teams and made good decisions and tried to protect the ball and put my team in position where we could win."