UCLA works toward getting Porter eligible
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 15, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 UCLA Sports Info Kristee Porter
By Diamond Leung
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UCLA Athletic Department is currently working on completing
an updated report that will include new facts to the “extra
benefits” case of All-American women’s volleyball
player Kristee Porter.
The university had sent out a report Oct. 19 to the NCAA after
declaring the senior outside hitter ineligible for competition.
“We became aware of the new information after we submitted
the Oct. 19 report,” associate athletic director Betsy
Stephenson said. “We don’t want to submit a report that
is incomplete.”
“It’s more complicated than we originally
thought,” sports information director Marc Dellins said.
“We’re still in the information-gathering
phase.”
UCLA declared Porter ineligible after she informed the
university that she may have violated NCAA rules by sharing
expenses with a part-time roommate.
While she continues to practice with the team, any return to
action for Porter, who is also a member of the women’s
basketball and track and field teams, is uncertain.
“We have no timetable,” associate sports information
director Amy Symons said.
“This is really difficult for Kristee,” head coach
Andy Banachowski said. “She has put so much into her athletic
career, and she’s just very frustrated right now. To not be
able to play and not be able to get a resolution is very difficult
for her.”
UCLA is also currently dealing with another “extra
benefits” case involving a top athlete. Senior football
player DeShaun Foster was declared ineligible by the university
Nov. 7 for allegedly driving a sport-utility vehicle leased by
actor-director Eric Laneuville. In that case, a final report has
been sent to the NCAA, and Foster awaits a decision regarding his
eligibility.
“I think the Athletic Department has done as much as it
can do to make everyone aware of the rules,” Banachowski
said. “Sometimes the players don’t make the best
choices. You’ve got to be sympathetic to everybody’s
situation, but we still have to operate within the
rules.”
