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Schreiber, Dukes identified as other 2 in textbooks case

by IAN R. RAPOPORT News staff writer , Birmingham News


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TUSCALOOSA - A day after Alabama received its NCAA ruling for major violations of its textbook disbursement policy, new details emerged.

Former Crimson Tide players Zach Schreiber and Jeffrey Dukes are the two unnamed, previously unknown football players in the report made public Thursday, a source with knowledge of the ruling said.

When UA officials learned of the improprieties in the way athletes received textbooks, they announced on Oct. 20, 2007, that five football players were suspended before the blowout win over Tennessee.

The public perception was that the benching of center Antoine Caldwell, guard Marlon Davis, running back Glen Coffee, cornerback Marquis Johnson, and special-teamer Chris Rogers meant they were the only football players involved.

But two other transgressors were discovered after the fact when the NCAA widened its net of investigation.

In all, Alabama was forced to vacate 21 wins from 2005 through 2007, and assessed three years of probation, a reprimand and a fine. The penalties came because 201 students in 16 sports received ''impermissible benefits'' from the textbook disbursement system.

The NCAA identified 22 ''intentional wrongdoers,'' including seven football players. That two additional football players were involved was a surprise. Dukes, who finished his career in 2006, and Schreiber, who transferred before the 2007 season, rounded out the list. Because neither played in 2007, the school was not forced to vacate any games strictly because of Dukes or Schreiber.

Despite the fact that it had already made public the names of five players linked

to the textbook case, Alabama officials would not release the names of the other two wrongdoers on the football team. They cited student privacy laws.

Dukes, a safety who started in 2006, finished that season as the team's leading tackler with 86 to go with three interceptions. Alabama was already slated to vacate all the victories in 2005 and 2006.

As for Schreiber, the reserve played only in the blowout win over Western Carolina in 2006, and he did not record a statistic. He left the team on Sept. 4, 2007, to transfer to Louisiana Tech. It's not clear if his involvement in the textbook situation was the reason.

Schreiber has since been suspended from Louisiana Tech because he was charged with three counts of principle forgery and one count of simple burglary in July of 2008. UA and NCAA officials also provided additional information on how it was determined that 22 athletes were ''intentional violators'' while the others were said to be ''unintentional violators.''

The NCAA would not make additional comments on the issue Friday, but a spokesman said it was the university that identified those athletes who circumvented the system intentionally.

Alabama officials described the intentional violators as those who knowingly sought books unrelated to their own courses - in other words, for a friend's course. The individuals were aware that they received improper benefits.

The four highest totals of impermissible benefits received were registered by football players. As for the unintentional violators, there were 125 of them who received less than $100 worth of benefits.

These athletes were deemed to have received books through no fault of their own. They either received packaged bundles that contained recommended but not required material or received too many books because of what the NCAA described as the ''book rush.''

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Check out Rapoport's blog at blog.al.com/rapsheet irapoport@bhamnews.com

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