Lobo basketball newcomer Danny Granger addressed the media for the first time Tuesday.
Granger has been at the center of controversy since arriving in Albuquerque days before the spring semester began. Members of the Bradley University coaching staff, who claim that UNM tampered with NCAA rules in acquiring the big man, have publicly scrutinized Granger and the Lobo coaching staff.
On Tuesday Granger got the chance to tell his side of the story for the first time.
"The purpose of today is to let Danny speak his mind," head coach Ritchie McKay said. "I think he was a little frustrated as to all the accusations that have been out there."
Under NCAA rule 13.1.1.3, it is illegal for any member of a coaching staff to have conversations with an athlete from another university while that athlete is still obligated to that school. The Lobos have admitted that assistant coach Duane Broussard did in fact talk with Granger while he was still at Bradley but said that he never tried to entice him to UNM. Phone documents were provided and clearly stated that Broussard had five conversations with Granger from his cell phone between May 20, 2002 and Dec. 16, 2002. The conversations totaled 20 minutes with the longest one spanning eight minutes on May 20, 2002.
While Broussard and McKay did not deny that Broussard had contact with Granger, they did deny that the purpose of the conversations was to recruit him.
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"By letter of the law, we violated the rule," McKay said. "By spirit of the rule, we did not."
Granger went on to talk about the events that took place leading up to his departure from Bradley and arrival at UNM.
Granger cited Bradley head coach Jim Les as the main reason for leaving the university. Granger said that he first considered leaving Bradley after his former head coach was fired after his freshman year. He said that he stayed at Bradley for his sophomore year because his father told him that it was the right thing to do.
As the 2002 season progressed and Bradley started losing games, Granger said that Les became more and more abusive to the team. He said that when Bradley played poorly in a loss to the University of Evansville, Les ordered that all the players post-game meals be thrown out before the long bus ride back to Peoria, Ill.
"It was almost like being treated like a slave," Granger said. "When that happened it was almost like I'm a slave. Since you didn't perform, you won't be allowed to eat."
Granger also said that Les threatened to ruin his life if he tried to leave Bradley but that he had made up his mind to do so.
Granger said that he decided to come to UNM based on the fact that he was recruited by Broussard at Bradley and that the Lobos had a black head coach in McKay. Granger also stated that it was his high school coach who advised him to come to UNM.
Granger will appeal to be released from his Bradley scholarship in Peoria, Ill. March 12.
