The Nevada Sagebrush

Nevada Athletics Director Cary Groth, third from right, defended the men's basketball team at a press conference Thursday while addressing Ahyaro Phillips' arrest and dismissal from the basketball team. Photo by Casey Durkin/Nevada Sagebrush

 

  April 23, 2009 - Nevada athletic director Cary Groth and head coach David Carter address media: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Nevada athletic director Cary Groth and men’s head basketball coach David Carter pledged to “shoot straight”on issues concerning current players involved in Ahyaro Phillips’ possession of a dangerous weapon charge and the overall state of the men’s basketball program.

“For me to hear or read that this program is in trouble or headed in the wrong direction or that these men are not good men is wrong,”Groth said. “Dead wrong.”

On the Phillips case, Groth said the .22 caliber handgun was originally in Nevada guard Armon Johnson’s house, but she said Johnson did not give the gun to Phillips.

“A friend gave (Johnson) the gun about three weeks ago to hold,”Groth said. “He did not give that gun to Ahyaro. Ahyaro took it from (Johnson’s) apartment. Armon is not in trouble.”

While it is not illegal for Nevada basketball players to own guns, Groth said she would look into establishing rules that would prohibit athletes owning guns.

“I don’t like guns,”she said. “I wish no one in the world had guns.”

The police report released on Tuesday said Phillips brought a gun to Lombardi Recreation Center April 15 to confront Nevada football players Adam Liranzo and Jonathan Ott among others.

Liranzo and Ott were involved in an altercation that ended with Liranzo punching Phillips at a party on April 11, according to the police report.

In the report, Phillips said he was “tired of running from those guys.”Groth said she found nothing to prove that there was an ongoing feud between Phillips and the football players prior to the fight at the party.

“I investigated that issue and I spoke with student athletes involved with those issues and no one could validate that,”Goth said. “But to suspend or kick (the football players) off the program, their behaviors do not warrant that.”

Carter said the basketball program would feel repercussions from the incident in recruiting, but his team would recover.

“I am disappointed in Ahyaro’s situation last week,” Carter said. “Very disappointed because it hurts our program it hurts our university.”

He also addressed rumors that Nevada forward Luke Babbitt was leaving the program.

“(Babbitt) is not going anywhere,”Carter said. “If he was going to transfer it probably would have happened two weeks ago or three weeks ago when coach (Mark) Fox left. That is not happening. I just wanted you guys to know that.”

Groth addressed another player whose transfer has been speculated — forward Malik Cooke. Groth said Cooke has considered leaving the team but that it had nothing to do with current events in the program.

“Malik Cooke is not tied to Mark Fox leaving,”she said. “He is not tied to this incident. Malik Cooke, shortly after post-season play, his father contacted me and Mark Fox and for personal reasons he wanted his son released. It is my understanding (Cooke) did not want to go.”

Cooke has not made a final decision, she said.

Groth also talked about the media for not following protocol when it came to contacting Carter and Nevada players.

“Our student athletes over the past day-and-a-half have received phone calls from the media and disruption to their classes, to their studies and to their normal routine,”she said. “Coach Carter just returned from Australia. There are people who said they tried to call him while he was on the plane for 17 hours with no phone calls. I want to get that straight. He wasn’t in Portland, Oregon…I don’t want coach Carter to get a bad name cause it’s getting reported he’s not returning phone calls.”

Carter went to Australia on a recruiting visit. Nevada has pursued Australia player Jordan Vandenberg. Groth and Carter did not say if Vandenberg was the reason for the visit.

Emerson Marcus can be reached at emarcus@nevadasagebrush.com.

Related Posts:

• Past success raises anticipation for Nevada
• Police report: Phillips obtained gun from Armon Johnson’s house
• Fight linked to Phillips’ exit
• Aggies hand Pack ‘terrible’ loss, end Nevada’s run in tourney
• Five starters score double figures, Pack cruises past Idaho into second round