Teacher tells NCAA officials Clarett's grade was changed

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A former Ohio State teaching assistant who said star tailback Maurice Clarett received preferential academic treatment met Wednesday for more than two hours with NCAA officials and a university committee.

"They were concerned about test scores, about cheating in the classroom, things like that," said Norma McGill, a teaching assistant in Clarett's African-American and African Studies class last fall.

During the meeting, McGill was shown test scores from the class, which she said had been altered since she left the school. She said she was also asked about other football players.

The meeting took place at a hotel in Lexington, McGill's hometown where she returned after leaving Ohio State during the week of final exams last fall.

"I was hoping that the NCAA would investigate and see what's going on at OSU with the football team, and the academics at OSU would be investigated, that a panel would be set up and they would see what departments are actually assisting students and student-athletes in getting their grades," she said.

Mark Jones, the NCAA's director of enforcement, did not return a request for comment Wednesday. Jones, two other NCAA officials, members of Ohio State's investigative panel and a university lawyer met with McGill.

Clarett set Ohio State freshman records with 1,237 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns last year as the school went 14-0 and won its first national championship in 34 years.

McGill says Clarett walked out of a midterm exam last fall and ended up passing the entry-level course after professor Paulette Pierce provided him with an oral exam. McGill says Clarett was the only person who received an oral exam.

She has also alleged that other athletes sat together and copied answers during three quizzes in the class and that Clarett told her and Pierce that tutors gave answers to players.

McGill went to The New York Times with her concerns and a story based on her accusations was published in July. She declined to meet with the Ohio State panel formed to investigate charges in the article.

Ohio State spokeswoman Elizabeth Conlisk said the university was conducting the "most thorough investigation possible. We established a committee of highly regarded and ethical faculty expressly for that purpose."

The NCAA also is investigating Clarett's finances, including a police report he filed claiming stereo equipment, cash, clothing and CDs valued at more than $10,000 were stolen from a car he had on loan from a dealership. Clarett later admitted he exaggerated the value of what was stolen.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and athletic director Andy Geiger held Clarett -- considered by many to be an early contender for the Heisman Trophy -- out of all of Ohio State's team functions, including preseason practices, until questions about his eligibility were resolved.

Clarett has appeared at several Ohio State practices, running sprints by himself or watching from the sidelines.