by Eric C. Paulsen
Editor in Chief
The ULV football program was accused last Thursday of illegally scouting Chapman University football practice on Wednesday night. After further investigation of the issue, CU dismissed the allegation against La Verne.
“It was very disturbing to me, because I am trying to put a reputable program together here,” said Head Coach Rex Huigens.
Huigens and Athletic Director Jim Paschal were called by Chapman’s Head Coach Ken Visser and Athletic Director David Currey and told of the accusations.
La Verne was accused of planting four men in the stands during the Chapman practice Wednesday night. The four men were described as wearing ULV football caps and were approached and asked if they were Chapman students. They replied “no” and left the facility. The men were then seen leaving in a white Jeep Cherokee and a white van. Chapman coaches took down the license plates of the vehicles. Chapman officials also said they videotaped the men sitting in the stands.
“That evening about 7:30 or 8, I got a call from the Chapman coach at home and he [Visser] said that they had found out those four people were not Chapman students, but they were definitely not La Verne football players. They were friends of one of Chapman’s players,” said Huigens. “It made me feel good that it wasn’t any of our players.”
“I got a little irritated then at the fact that they made the accusations without really checking it out with their players,” said Huigens. “It became a non-issue, but I went through a few hours of anxiety and I was going to be very depressed if it was true.”
“When the accusations were made he [Visser] stated very strongly that they were La Verne students,” said Huigens, who proceeded with his own investigations to find the two vehicles. He called on a friend in the police department of another city to run a check on the plates.
“We got the response back after practice and the information that we got on that license number ended up belonging to a Mitsubishi in Fresno. And it had nothing to do with University of La Verne athletes or any relatives thereof, so I felt a little bit better,” said Huigens.
Huigens later thought that this could have been a method for the Chapman coaching staff to “jack up” its players for the game. However he doesn’t think that anymore stating, “Football coaches are paranoid that someone might be watching practice. I just wish that they would have checked it out before making the accusations.”
