Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive told ESPN.com that he believes the NCAA's agents and amateurism group -- not enforcement officials -- are looking into the eligibility of Kentucky freshman John Wall and Mississippi State freshman Renardo Sidney.
ESPN.com reported that Wall's issues stem from his relationship with AAU coach Brian Clifton, who was a certified agent in 2007 and 2008. Wall made at least two unofficial recruiting visits to Kentucky during that period.
"Those are amateur issues that arose prior to their coming to our schools," Slive said. "Those are strictly amateurism issues. As we told our people, somebody needs to determine if they are eligible. It's not relative to you, it's relative to them."
Football
Hunter suspended: Cary High School coach Ben Kolstad suspended several starters before last week's 34-5 loss to Middle Creek. One of them was his most highly touted player, two-way lineman Fre'Shad Hunter, a senior who ranks among the best players in the state and recently committed to N.C. State.
However, Hunter will not be returning to the Cary team. Though other starters were suspended for missing practice, Hunter broke an undisclosed team rule.
Hunter's mother and Kolstad met and decided it would be best for the player to sit out the rest of the year.
"What happened is there were some team rules broken, and it kind of became a mutual decision between me and his mom that he was going to focus on academics and nothing else," Kolstad said.
Hunter projects as a defensive lineman in college and is ranked by major recruiting databases Scout.com and Rivals.com as a four-star player.
"It's probably not easy for him, but he's doing fine," Kolstad said. "This is something that we've been talking about for a while anyway. It's not that sudden of a thing for him. He's handled it well, I think."
J. Mike Blake
SEC reprimands Petrino: Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino has been reprimanded by the Southeastern Conference after publicly criticizing officials who worked his team's loss to Florida last weekend.
The league announced its action Thursday, a day after saying the officiating crew from the Razorbacks' 23-20 loss would be suspended. The officials came under scrutiny after a personal foul call on Arkansas' Malcolm Sheppard in the fourth quarter. The SEC said there was no video evidence to support the call.
The Associated Press
More basketball
Brand war: The fight over the shoes Michael Jordan's son will wear at the University of Central Florida could cost the school financially.
Freshman guard Marcus Jordan is refusing to wear shoes made by Adidas, the brand the university has a contract with for all its sports. He says he will only wear his father's Nike Air Jordan shoes because they hold special meaning to his family.
The problem is UCF is in the final year of its contract with Adidas that requires coaches and athletes to use the company's apparel and equipment. UCF says its five-year deal with Adidas ends June 30, 2010.
Kansas guard's DUI: Prosecutors have agreed to dismiss drunken-driving charges against Kansas guard Brady Morningstar if he stays out of trouble for the next year.
Morningstar, 23, was arrested Oct. 3 on the Kansas Turnpike near Lawrence on suspicion of driving under the influence. Court records indicate that the junior had nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system at the time. He was fined $500 and won't play in any first-semester games.
The Associated Press
Cross country
CIAA championships: Individual winners Barbara Pierre and Johnny Shuping led St. Augustine's to an excellent day at the CIAA Cross Country Championships on Thursday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.
Pierre won the women's 5K race to spark the Falcons to a share of the CIAA title with Bowie State. Shuping won the men's 8K race to lead St. Aug's to a second-place finish.
Pierre competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and is a CIAA and NCAA champion in the 100 meters. On Thursday, she won in 20:10.6. Winnie Chepchumba of Livingstone was second in 20:31.1, with Shamika Patton of Bowie State third in 20:47.2.
St. Aug's and Bowie State scored 44 points apiece to become co-champions.
Shuping won the men's title for the second straight year in a time of 24:59.3. Geoffrey Langat of Virginia State was second in 25:37.9, and George Smith of St. Aug's was third in 26:23.2.
Bowie State scored 42 points to win its first CIAA men's championship. St. Aug's had 67.
From college news release
