College Players Told To Repay $420

Wednesday, December 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) â€” At least 13 football players misused a University of Minnesota telephone access code and will be suspended until they repay about $420 in charges, the school said Wednesday.

A preliminary investigation found that between Aug. 29 and Nov. 29, more than 1,500 improper phone calls worth more than $1,600 were charged to the code.

The 13 players admitted using the code but denied knowing the code was only for university-authorized use, the school said. The 13 charged a total of about $420, with 10 of them charging less than $100 total.

About $650 in calls were from dormitory rooms of five university students who are not athletes.

The school's general counsel office will continue to investigate, and it is likely that the number of improper calls and dollar value will rise, the school said.

Coach Glen Mason planned to inform all the players that they would be suspended until they pay for the charges. He said he expected all the players to repay the money before they leave Friday for the Dec. 28 Micronpc.com Bowl.

University officials said they do not believe any players must be declared ineligible under NCAA rules. Any other discipline against students will come after the investigation is finished.

University compliance director Frank Kara and members of general counsel Mark Rotenberg's office conducted the investigation, which previously involved questioning about 20 students. Most of those interviewed were football players.

The Gophers' secondary is already without two starters from the beginning of the season. Cornerback Willie Middlebrooks broke his leg against Indiana and was lost for the season. Free safety and leading tackler Delvin Jones was recently suspended from school for a semester for a matter most likely unrelated to the phone code investigation.