An email exchange showed that another NCAA investigator used convicted felon Nevin Shapiro’s lawyer to build the NCAA’s case against the University of Miami, reports the Miami Herald. 

The paper says that Stephanie Hannah, an NCAA director of enforcement who got the job after the NCAA fired Ameen Najjar, continued Najjar’s policy of working with Shapiro’s attorney, Maria Elena Perez, to try to build a case against the Miami programs.

Miami claims that NCAA investigators lied to interviewees in order to trick subjects into saying incriminating things and the school will file a motion to dismiss the case on Friday.

More from the Miami Herald:

UM also will claim that significant charges made against UM in the NCAA’s notice of allegations are uncorroborated by anyone besides Shapiro, and that tainted evidence has not been fully purged from the case.

After taking over for Najjar, Hannah attempted to work with Perez on obtaining information from Shapiro’s bodyguard, Mario Sanchez, who was subpoenaed to appear in a bankruptcy hearing. The deposition with Sanchez never materialized, and the bankruptcy trustee told us today that it wouldn’t have been of interest to the bankruptcy trustee, anyway.

The NCAA said that former Miami assistant football coach Clint Hurtt provided false or misleading information during the NCAA’s investigation into the school’s athletic department, reports ESPN.com.

The NCAA also claims that Hurtt received a $2,500 interest-free loan from now jailed convicted felon Nevin Shapiro in April 2009 and repaid it three months later and also had knowledge that Shapiro gave five recruits benefits that total at least $3,315.

The NCAA’s Notice of Allegations claims that between August 2006 and April 2009, Nevin Shapiro provided at least $7,025 in impermissible supplemental compensation to Hurtt and another unidentified Miami volunteer recruiting assistant.

Shapiro also with Hurtt’s knowledge, assisted in the recruitment of seven more players. Additionally, with Hurtt’s knowledge, Shapiro provided impermissible benefits to four recruits and eight then-current Miami players.

Hurtt was at Miami from 2006-09 and joined Louisville’s staff as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator in 2010. All of Hurtt’s NCAA allegations occurred while he was at Miami.

“I’ve said all along since it did not happen at the University of Louisville, Clint is due his due process and I think that’s the only fair thing we can do as a university,” Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich said. “Clint’s side of the story is much different than the allegations, so I think we just wait the 90 days and see how it unfolds.

The NCAA has fired CP of enforcement Julie Roe Lach following an external report detailing the NCAA’s abuse of power in a University of Miami investigation. (Marc Serota/Getty Images)

With the impending release of a report detailing the abuse of power in an investigation on the University of Miami, the NCAA has fired the Julie Roe Lach, vice president of enforcement, on Monday morning.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Roe Lach was fired because of her approval of an “improper financial relationship” between an NCAA investigator named Maria Elena Perez and Nevin Shapiro, a former Miami booster.

NCAA president Mark Emmert announced in late January that the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft would be conducting an external review of the NCAA’s “enforcement environment.” Three sources interviewed as part of the investigation said Roe Lach approved reimbursements for Perez, who conducted bankruptcy depositions of two individuals tied to the UM investigation.

Perez denied any wrongdoing to Yahoo! Sports. The NCAA will release the findings of the enforcement review at 2 p.m. EST on Monday.

Alex Collins and his father have both signed the national letter of intent to join the Razorbacks, while his mother, Andrea McDonald, has hired a lawyer from Johnnie Cochran’s firm, reports the Miami Herald News:

The mother of South Plantation High running back Alex Collins has hired an attorney with the Cochran firm to represent the family “while she contemplates on signing the NCAA’s Letter of Intent” that will decide where her son plays football in college.

The firm, founded by O.J. Simpson lawyer Johnnie L. Cochran, made the announcement Thursday.

McDonald was opposed to her son going to Arkansas, preferring instead that he attend the University of Miami. Collins was not present at the commitment ceremony at his school, South Plantation High, and it was reported that his mother had confiscated the letter of intent. It appears that Collins was also unaware his mother had plans of seeking legal guidance:

Just showed Alex Collins the news release from The Cochran Firm. He was stunned. Truly didn't know his mom had retained an attorney—
Steve Gorten (@sgorten) February 07, 2013

NCAA president Mark Emmert put the Miami probe on hold due to “very severe” improper conduct by his staff. (Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

An NCAA vice president approved a five-figure payment to the attorney of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro to obtain information in its Miami infractions investigation, two sources with knowledge of the arrangement told CBSSports.com.

In the report, sources said enforcement director Julie Roe Lach discussed and approved the payment of at least $20,000 in October-November 2011.

The NCAA is already conducting an external review investigating what it called “improper conduct” when its enforcement department gained access to a witness deposed by Shapiro’s attorney, Maria Elena Perez, in order to gain evidence of NCAA infractions in a separate bankruptcy proceeding.

“Whether or not Julie approved [the action], it will be part of the external review process,” said NCAA spokesman Bob Williams. “However, the review is solely focused on enforcement.”

A source close to the case termed the information obtained at the depositions as being of “mutual interest” to Shapiro and the NCAA, and was acquired in a manner in which NCAA investigators could circumvent their lack of subpoena power.

Shapiro, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for his role in a $970-million Ponzi scheme, is working through bankruptcy proceedings to repay money owed to creditors.

NCAA president Mark Emmert put the Miami investigation on hold after discovering “a very severe issue of improper conduct.”

Former Miami and current Missouri head coach Frank Haith is expected to face NCAA scrutiny its investigation of Miami. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Missouri men’s head basketball coach Frank Haith is expected to be charged with unethical conduct and failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance this week regarding the NCAA’s investigation into the University of Miami’s dealing with a booster, reports CBSSports.com.

Haith coached at the University of Miami from 2004-2011 before taking the Missouri job.

Three assistants that previously worked on Haith’s staff: Jake Morton, Jorge Fernandez and Michael Schwartz are expected to be charged as well.

The source told CBSSports.com that the NCAA was unable to prove the allegation from Miami booster Nevin Shapiro that Haith or anyone on his staff paid $10,000 to a family member of former player DeQuan Jones. However, Haith will be charged with unethical conduct because the NCAA did not believe his story that payments to his assistants intended for camp money did not wind up going to repay Shapiro, who made the allegations to Yahoo Sports back in August of 2011.

Those accused with have 90 days to respond to any NCAA inquiry. Shapiro is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for a $930 million Ponzi scheme and has said he gave Miami athletes impermissible benefits over an eight year period.

The NCAA sent letters to players saying if they don’t talk, they will consider those players guilty of violations. (Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

The NCAA issued letters to former University of Miami football players last week saying if they don’t speak up by Friday, it will conclude the players committed violations, reports the Miami Herald. 

The NCAA is alleging that former players accepted gifts from former booster Nevin Shapiro, a convicted felon who is in prison for running a $930 million Ponzi scheme. Those gifts included dinners, nightclub trips, cash, and prostitutes.

The Yahoo! Sports story detailing a potential NCAA violation at Miami under coach Al Golden gained a lot of traction on Friday.

Golden released a statement late in the day responding to the allegations. Here it is in full, courtesy CollegeFootballTalk.com:

“I have been a college football coach for more than 18 years and I am proud of–and I stand by–my record of compliance over that span. As my colleagues and players on all of my teams can attest, I believe strongly in doing things the right way with the best of intentions. The inferences and suggestions in the Yahoo! Sports story that my conduct was anything but ethical are simply false. I, like all of us at UM, have cooperated fully with the joint NCAA-UM inquiry and will continue to do so, so that our program and our University can move forward.

“Because the process is on-going, I am unable to address any specifics or answer questions on the matter.”

Earlier, SI.com’s Stewart Mandel offered this quick analysis of the latest allegations:

The alleged violations in latest Miami report are secondary-ish, but adds another layer to larger scandal. tinyurl.com/cjl68p6—
Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) July 20, 2012

Mandel is referring to the AP report that NCAA investigators were in Coral Gables earlier this month as part of an ongoing investigation.

Following the scandals targeting high-profile football and basketball programs at schools such as Ohio State University and the University of Miami this year, questions have been raised regarding student-athlete reimbursement.

The Associated Press reports that NCAA president Mark Emmert supports a proposal granting student-athletes $2,000 more in scholarships “to more closely approach” the full cost of attendance.

Emmert expects the proposal to be finalized this week and wants the NCAA to support it.  If it is voted in, conferences will have the option to add the increase to their current grants.  Emmert will also like to see multi-year grants as opposed to year-to-year grants.

This proposal may alleviate the issue of illegal payments several top-notch athletes have been accused of accepting including Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor and Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush.