SAN DIEGO ---- Three former San Diego State football players said Thursday that they never saw strippers dance for recruits.

An ESPN report that aired Wednesday included allegations that strippers danced at parties for recruits over a two-year span in the late 1990s. That report was disputed by current NFL players Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Will Demps, who began their San Diego State careers in 1997, and NFL hopeful Brendan Darby, who joined the program in 1999.

ESPN's report cited a woman using an assumed name with her face blocked out, saying she "did a couple parties each year" for San Diego State football recruits.

All three players attended the Aztecs' spring football practice on Thursday. In separate interviews, each player said he had never seen nor heard about strippers appearing at parties for SDSU recruits.

"I can honestly say I've been here since 1997, and I've never seen anything like that," said Gbaja-Biamila, who finished his Aztecs career in 2002 and is now a defensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders. "That never happened. I would be honest and tell you if it did. I would laugh about it and say, 'Look here, this is what we did.'

"I'm not saying this to protect anything. It never happened."

Darby, who completed his career last fall, called ESPN's report "stupid."

"I never saw anything like that," said Darby, an offensive tackle who hopes to be picked in the NFL draft in April. "She was pretty vague about it. She said late '90s, so who knows. She could mean '96 or '97.

"She's not even alleging anything illegal even happened. When you're talking about coaches doing this kind of stuff, that's when it starts getting unethical and people can get in trouble when the coach is setting it up."

Demps, a safety for the Ravens, was a walk-on at San Diego State, so he didn't take an official recruiting visit. He said that if such a thing had occurred, it wouldn't have taken until ESPN's report for him to have heard about it.

"I never experienced or seen it, so I don't understand it," Demps said. "In our class, I would've heard about it that following year. From what I experienced, none of that is true."

Gbaja-Biamila said he regularly served as a recruiting host during his career, which spanned six seasons because he was granted an extra year by the NCAA following an injury. He said he often was one of the players who coordinated the visits and that strippers were never part of the plan.

On his own recruiting trip in 1997, Gbaja-Biamila said former tight end Ben Mecham was his host, and the two played laser tag.

Darby said he went to a fraternity party one night. He spent the next night watching a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield at a residence in Rancho Bernardo.

Coach Tom Craft, who replaced Ted Tollner following the 2001 season, had little to say in response to ESPN's report. He said he prohibits his players from taking recruits to strip clubs and Tijuana.

Star running back Lynell Hamilton was in the national news last year because of comments he made to the Stockton Record after picking San Diego State. Hamilton said he was offered alcohol, drugs and sex during his visit to Oregon and also was offered inducements by Colorado and Michigan. He said no such things occurred on his visit to SDSU.

"I've never regretted speaking up about anything," said Hamilton. "I said what I said. Right now, that's behind me. I'm at San Diego State, and I'm trying to not speak about any other school. I'm going to keep looking forward."