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Despite being named in Yahoo! Sports’ Nevin Shapiro report, Aldarius Johnson yesterday walked away without any suspensions from the NCAA. However, coach Al Golden put Johnson on indefinite suspension anyway. Turns out he might have been caught lying to the NCAA.
“Aldarius was always calling me if his mother couldn’t pay the bills, or the cat had a problem or the dog ate his homework,” Shapiro said in the Yahoo! Sports report. “I just gifted him money at least 10 times, from the low end being like $50 [to] the high end being probably like $300 to $400. I’d say he took a couple grand from me over the course of time.”
Despite the fact eight other Hurricanes football players received suspensions yesterday, ranging from one to six games, Johnson seemed to walk away clean. This week, though, Golden voluntarily suspended him. “Violating team rules” was the only reason given.
Now, the Sun-Sentinel reports Johnson might have been suspended for lying to NCAA investigators, indicating the school is taking the investigation very seriously and expects nothing less than honesty from its players:
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A source with knowledge of the NCAA situation told the Sun-Sentinel on Tuesday that Johnson was less than forthright in two interviews with NCAA investigators while the rest of the UM players interviewed who received impermissible benefits admitted they had.
Johnson, a wide receiver, had his best year as a freshman in 2008. He racked up 332 yards and three touchdowns. His stats have fallen every year since, and despite playing 12 games last year racked up only 157 yards and no TDs. It’s likely now he’ll never see a college football field again.
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