Six More UNLV Players Suspended for Unpaid Phone Bills

LAS VEGAS — Six more UNLV basketball players have been ruled ineligible for one game because of non-payment of long-distance phone bills, bringing to nine the number suspended for a single game by the NCAA.

A ruling by the NCAA Friday means that two players will miss each of the next three games, against Louisiana State today, Utah State on Thursday and North Carolina State on Saturday.

The six players are Stacey Augmon, Travis Bice, Chris Jeter, James Jones, Moses Scurry and Barry Young.

UNLV officials have been allowed to select which two players will miss each of the games.

Augmon, the only starter among the six, has been suffering from the flu and was questionable for today’s game anyway. He and Jeter were told at the airport Friday that they would not make the trip.

Starting guard Greg Anthony and center David Butler were ordered to sit out Thursday’s Big West Conference game against UC Santa Barbara because of unpaid phone bills.

Earlier this month, guard Anderson Hunt was forced by the NCAA to sit out the Temple game because of failure to keep current on a student loan.

UNLV officials say the long-distance calls were made from hotels where the Rebels stayed for games in Hawaii and San Jose.

University officials said they thought the phone charges were a matter between the player and the hotel. “Before all road trips, the university sends a letter to hotels at which the team will be staying, directing (the hotels) to shut off telephones to the student-athletes’ rooms and to deny student-athletes room service and other incidental charges,” a UNLV press release said.

“Recently obtained records indicated that during the 1988-89 season, some hotels failed to enforce those rules; and that some student-athletes did make long-distance telephone calls and incur other incidental charges.”

The UNLV players stay two to a room, and the phone calls may have been charged by either roommate.

The NCAA declared both players in each room responsible and subject to the suspension because they did not know which player made the calls.