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SportsAugust 31, 2003

Snyder on Clemons attending Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kan.: Crane: Did the University of Missouri Athletic Department, Lane (Odom), facilitate his attending that school? Snyder: I don't know if we facilitated. ...

Snyder on Clemons attending Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kan.:

Crane: Did the University of Missouri Athletic Department, Lane (Odom), facilitate his attending that school?

Snyder: I don't know if we facilitated. You know, I think it was a joint effort between Southern Idaho coaches, the Barton County coach, and you know, us obviously giving it our blessing that it would be a good place for him to go. Because at that point when he's short of credits for graduation -- we knew that. You know, you're looking at a transcript and you know he needs credit hours to be able to graduate.

Crane: To graduate.

Snyder: Right.

Crane: Twenty-four hours ...

Snyder: OK.

Crane: ... in one summer.

Snyder: Right.

Crane: Three different schools, two of which were correspondence. Brigham Young and Adams College out of Colorado.

Snyder: Right.

Crane: And then the class load that he had at Barton County adds up to 24 hours in one summer.

Snyder: Right.

Crane: Were you aware of that while he was doing it?

Snyder: I was aware that he had work to do. I wasn't aware of the details of what needed to be done.

Crane: As you sit here today does that strike you as a lot?

Snyder: More than usual. I think it's not uncommon for kids to need credits. My understanding too was some of those credits were -- he had some of his course stuff. He needed elective credits. I don't know what he was taking. I think since that time I have come to find out it was a lot of PE classes. I don't know the details on that.

Crane: Yeah.

Snyder: To be honest with you, Kevin, I wouldn't be able to say whether that's, you know, a lot or a little based on -- I have kind of a limited experience with that. You know.

Crane: Well, I guess ...

Snyder: I know he was way short.

Crane: Like what I'm doing -- I go back to when I was in college. You know. Gosh, there was some semesters I took 12 hours.

Snyder: Yeah. I took 20 hours my last year in law school. And I needed it to graduate.

Crane: That's a lot.

Snyder: Yeah.

Crane: But not to be flip -- you did go ahead and graduate from high school.

Snyder: Right.

Crane: That's a huge amount of hours for an individual who is at risk to complete ...

Snyder: Right.

Crane: ... in one summer, agreed?

Snyder: I don't know that I would say that. It would depend on what he's taking, too. I would agree it's a lot of hours.

Snyder on his involvement in checking Clemons' background:

Snyder: Just my experience with a lot of this stuff is ...

Crane: Hearsay?

Snyder: Yeah.

Crane: OK.

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Snyder: What I'm being told. You know, it's not efficient for me to get involved in all the details of this stuff. He's either going to go to Barton County and make it and be able to play, or not.

Crane: Yeah. You know, I don't know. Exhibit G here in April -- actually April 16th of '02 -- he indicated at the bottom of this -- this is a document signed by Ricky -- transfer application to MU, is what this is.

Snyder: For his admission, yeah.

Crane: He writes down here that he got an AA degree, May '02.

Snyder: When did he fill this out?

Crane: April 16, '02.

Snyder: He pre-dated it. Or ...

Crane: Well, yeah, he never did get it on May '02. He didn't get it until August ...

Snyder on learning about Clemons' arrest in January on a domestic abuse charge:

Snyder: We're talking -- you know, we're wondering what is going on.

Crane: Right.

Snyder: And trying to get a little information on it.

Crane: Right. And I think you're being very candid with me. Your hope is that this is not going to amount to anything.

Snyder: Sure.

Crane: Right?

Snyder: You hope that it's kind of a misunderstanding.

Crane: Right.

Snyder: Maybe she got upset.

Crane: Right. It's going to blow over. Everything is going to be OK and he's going to be able to play.

Snyder: Well, he's not going to be in jail.

Crane: All right.

Snyder: You know.

Crane: OK. So you talked to him again that night?

Snyder: I guess kind of the inference that I'm relieved because I can play him. I just would object to that.

Crane. OK. All right.

Snyder: I don't appreciate that inference.

Odom on Clemons achieving 24 credit hours in less than two months in Kansas:

Crane: Were you concerned that he was going to be able to get through 24 hours at this time?

Odom: We were in contact with his coach. And we were in contact with him. And yes, of course, we were concerned.

Crane: That's because that's a very large number of hours.

Odom: Very concerned.

Crane: You didn't think it was inordinately high?

Odom: I thought it was high. And I knew he had a lot of work to do. And I didn't think it was going to be easy.

Crane: I mean, logically you might have been thinking he's never going to make it.

Odom: There was that possibility.

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