Hoops Star Cleared in Hummer Probe
The nation's No. 1 high school basketball player did not violate any state amateur bylaws by accepting a sports utility vehicle as a gift, officials said Monday.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association concluded its two-week investigation by clearing LeBron James, who is expected to be the No. 1 selection in the NBA draft.
OHSAA commissioner Clair Muscaro spent the past two weeks gathering information and documentation to determine how James got a Hummer H2 vehicle, which has a base retail price of $50,000.
Muscaro said no violations of the OHSAA amateur bylaws "as currently written" have been found and that James is still eligible to play.
Gloria James said she obtained a bank loan to buy the extravagant SUV for her son's 18th birthday and provided financial information to the OHSAA for its inquiry.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has reported that a Hummer dealer familiar with the James vehicle put its value at $70,000 to $80,000. The newspaper said the custom-made Hummer contains several TV sets and has the words "King James" inscribed on the front seat headrests.
The Plain Dealer said the SUV was purchased from a Los Angeles dealership that has sold luxury vehicles to such well-known professional athletes as NFL star Warren Sapp and NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.
"In working with the attorney for the James family and the OHSAA attorney, I was shown official business records from the bank and the dealership which established that the financing and acquisition of the vehicle were procured by the student-athlete's mother alone," Muscaro said in a statement. "Accordingly, this type of transaction is not a violation of the OHSAA bylaws on amateurism."
If the OHSAA had stripped James of his amateur status, he would have been ineligible to play for the rest of the season, and St. Vincent-St. Mary, the nation's No. 1 team, would have forfeited its games for the time James accepted the SUV.
Muscaro said St. Vincent-St. Mary High School has been informed of his decision.
He also said the OHSAA will review its bylaws on amateurism and could make changes if recommended to do so by its member schools.
James has had the SUV for several weeks. On Friday night, he parked the platinum-colored Hummer just outside the school's gym doors, giving fans arriving for his final home game on campus a chance to see it.
Gloria James would not comment on the inquiry Sunday following her son's game as the nation's No. 1 team beat Akron Buchtel, 82-71.
LeBron James, who had 25 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, was not available to reporters.
James and his Fighting Irish teammates appeared flat from the outset in Sunday's game — their only regular-season matchup against an Akron-area school.
Coach Dru Joyce said the Hummer investigation may have been a reason for the sluggishness.
"It's not a major distraction," he said. "But let's face it, when something like this is going on, no matter how much you try to keep it from affecting us, it's still there. LeBron is newsworthy. If he breathes too hard it's going to be in the newspaper."