The NCAA enforcement staff has alleged that former Fresno State athletic department administrators failed to sufficiently report violations since 1995 that involved primarily men's basketball players.

An NCAA-issued letter of official inquiry details specifics of the joint Fresno State-NCAA investigation and focuses on the university's alleged lack of institutional control, a violation that historically is one of the most severe charges the NCAA can levy.

Fresno State received the letter on July 24, 2002, but the university has refused to make the document public. It was obtained recently by The Bee.

The document alleges that a former university vice president, former athletic director, former men's basketball coach and former compliance officer failed to either monitor regulations or report possible violations to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, collegiate sports' governing body.

Additionally, the NCAA says in the letter that it has deemed that a former street agent, who funneled money to a men's basketball player, and a former Fresno restaurant owner, who provided free meals to players, are representatives of the university's athletic interests.

That distinction means Fresno State could face harsh penalties when the infractions committee rules on the university's three-year joint investigation with the NCAA this summer.

Fresno State's case will be heard Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. The infractions committee will rule on the case at least six weeks later.

School officials declined to comment on specifics of the letter.

Fresno State spokesman Mark Aydelotte said recently, "We won't be responding to any questions relating to the NCAA and university review until the point of the hearing."

The NCAA issued a supplemental letter of inquiry in May after the enforcement staff completed a three-month investigation into academic fraud within the men's basketball program.

The original letter of official inquiry makes these allegations:

In the summer of 1995, Ben Quillian, former vice president for administration and then-interim athletic director, failed to report that free meals were provided to men's basketball players at a Fresno restaurant even though Ted Kunishige, owner of the restaurant, acknowledged providing free food to student-athletes. Further, Quillian reported in an April 3, 1997, memo to then-athletic director Al Bohl that Kunishige had acknowledged providing the free meals. But neither Quillian nor Bohl reported the violation to the NCAA.

Fresno State announced on Dec. 11, 2002, that Quillian had been named senior vice president at the American Council on Education in Washington.

Bohl left Fresno State two years ago to assume the athletic director position at Kansas University, but was fired in April 2003 in part because of an apparent rift with Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams.

Between 1995 and 2000, Kunishige, the owner of a Fresno restaurant, provided free meals, valued at less than $10 each, to five men's basketball players. The players cited were Travis DeManby (five to 10 meals); Nick Irvin (four to five); Terrance Roberson (three meals per week); Noel Felix (one meal); and Andrea Bona (one meal).

In March 2000, The Bee quoted Kunishige as saying he had provided players with "several thousand dollars" in free meals since 1993.

Former compliance director Jon Fagg failed to report that men's basketball player Travis Robinson received improper financial aid during the 1998-99 academic year, after the university became aware of this violation in June 1999. Robinson practiced and competed while ineligible in eight games during the 1999-2000 season.

The infractions committee could make Fresno State vacate those games, a sanction that essentially would erase them from record books.

Fagg left Fresno State on March 12, 2001, to become North Carolina State's assistant director for compliance.

The university erroneously certified men's basketball player Shamario Richard as eligible during the 1998-99 academic year because of improper calculation of his progress toward his degree. Richard competed while ineligible in 29 games during the 1998-99 season.

The infractions committee could make Fresno State vacate those games, as well.

During the summer of 2001, then-men's basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian failed to report possible violations involving player Tito Maddox's receipt of benefits from a sports agency. Nate Cebrun, a longtime street agent and former friend of Tarkanian's, and Ken Delpit, a representative of the now-defunct Las Vegas-based agency Franchise Sports, told Tarkanian about possible inducements. Instead of reporting the possible violations to Fresno State's compliance officer or an administrator, Tarkanian questioned Maddox. Tarkanian said he did not report the information because Maddox denied involvement, and Tarkanian was unable to conclude that violations had occurred.

On Aug. 2, 2001, however, based on information Cebrun reported to the university and the NCAA, Maddox was interviewed by the NCAA and acknowledged his April 2001 receipt of an airplane ticket paid for by Franchise Sports. Maddox denied that Tarkanian asked him about his involvement with agents that summer, the NCAA alleges.

Tarkanian told The Bee in November 2002 that Cebrun informed him of the Maddox allegations in the summer of 2001. Tarkanian said in November that he did not report the allegations but looked into them himself. He said he talked to Maddox, people close to Maddox and Ron Delpit, then-president of Franchise Sports, and that all denied Maddox had received extra benefits.

"We can't control it if the [players] lie to us ...," Tarkanian said in November. "How could we have been any more responsible?"

In October 2002, Maddox told The Bee he had accepted $30,000 from a relative of Ron Delpit's and had signed an agreement with Franchise Sports during the 2000-01 season.

Cebrun, deemed by the NCAA as a representative of the university's athletic interests, provided improper cash stipends and travel expenses to Roberson and his family. On numerous occasions during the 1999-2000 season, Cebrun provided cash ranging from $20 to $100 to Roberson at Selland Arena after home games.

Additionally, on Feb. 7 and Feb. 10, 2000, Cebrun wired $250 and $300 in cash, respectively, to Roberson in Fresno via Western Union money transfers from Las Vegas. Roberson told The Bee in November 2002 that he had accepted several hundred dollars from Cebrun.

On Feb. 12, 2000, Cebrun wired $300 to Roberson's grandparents in Saginaw, Mich., to pay their costs for driving to Tulsa, Okla. -- a round-trip distance of approximately 1,900 miles -- for the Western Athletic Conference tournament. Cebrun also arranged payment via credit card for their lodging expenses at a Tulsa Marriott.

Fresno State denied the NCAA's characterization of Cebrun as a representative of the university's athletic interests during the afternoon portion of the Dec. 13, 2002, infractions committee hearing, according to a source.

In the spring of 2001, then-men's basketball team manager Chris Farr provided tickets to two Los Angeles Lakers games and round-trip automobile transportation to Maddox at no cost. The NCAA requested that Fresno State provide it with a statement from Farr and a copy of the Aug. 21, 2001, letter Scott Johnson addressed to Maddox, in which the then-interim athletic director stated the player was dismissed from the program.

On April 27, 2000, assistant John Welch divided men's basketball players in the South Gym into two teams for a four-on-four, full-court game. Between 1995 and 1999, Wil Hooker, then a men's basketball manager, participated in defensive drills with players during individual skill instruction sessions in which Hooker guarded players and gave them hands-on instruction. The instances occurred before the October start date for men's basketball practices. Additionally, between 1995 and 2001, Hooker and Welch occasionally observed preseason pick-up games.

School President John Welty already has self-imposed sanctions that include two years' probation, the reduction of three men's basketball scholarships between 2004 and 2006, and a one-year postseason ban (enforced in 2003). The infractions committee can either rubber-stamp those penalties or issue further sanctions.

Welty also has requested and received a report of compliance regarding all actions taken during the past two years to strengthen the university's compliance with NCAA rules. Welty has "reiterated" to Pete Simis, the faculty athletic representative, his responsibility in certifying student-athletes for eligibility.

The university reported several violations to the NCAA before the letter of official inquiry was issued. Those violations included a men's soccer eligibility transgression and a women's basketball-recruiting inducement violation committed by the previous coaching staff. Other self-reported violations, according to the original letter of inquiry, included:

Robinson practiced and was awarded a basketball scholarship even though he was an academic nonqualifier during the 1998-99 academic year. In June 1999, Educational Testing Services determined that Robinson's SAT score was invalid and told the university of the canceled score. Fresno State, however, allowed Robinson to practice, travel and compete in six regular-season and two exhibition games during the fall of 1999 without declaring him ineligible.

After the university canceled Robinson's scholarship in September 1999 as a "self-imposed corrective action," he was given an extra benefit. He was allowed to pay tuition at the in-state rate, which the NCAA determined was $7,459, rather than the out-of-state rate of $15,020.

Although the cancellation of Robinson's scholarship was termed a "self-imposed corrective action" in the letter of official inquiry, Fagg told The Bee in August 1999 that the school and Robinson had agreed Robinson would not be on scholarship during the 1999-2000 season.

The enforcement staff requested that Fresno State provide it with, among other items, dates Robinson participated in games while ineligible, the average number of minutes he competed in each contest and the team's win-loss record in those games.

On Nov. 11, 1998, the university certified Richard even though he had not completed at least 50% of the course requirements toward his baccalaureate degree. The university credited Richard with 63 units of course work when he had completed 61.

Additionally, the university counted 11 correspondence-course credits, which are not allowed to meet the NCAA's satisfactory-progress rule. Richard, therefore, completed 50 approved units of course work, which fulfilled only 40% of his degree requirement.

The enforcement staff requested the average number of minutes he played during the 1998-99 season and the team's win-loss record during the 29 games in which he competed while ineligible.

On Jan. 26, 2002, two complimentary tickets for the men's basketball team's home game against Louisiana Tech from Tarkanian's ticket allotment were provided to player Chris Jefferies' uncle and cousin. Jefferies' father obtained the tickets from an "unknown source" and left them at the Selland Arena will-call window. The tickets were valued at $20 each. The incident, which the university reported June 13, 2002, to the NCAA, violates rules regarding complimentary-ticket benefits.