LEXINGTON, Ky., Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The University of Kentucky's athletic association is facing a $50 million lawsuit by former football coach and recruiter Claude Bassett.
Bassett, who also is suing the Southeastern Conference and the National Collegiate Athletics Association, resigned from his job as recruiting coordinator for UK football in November 2000.
His departure followed a confrontation by UK officials over alleged recruiting improprieties.
Those allegations prompted the NCAA in January 2002 to put UK on a three-year probation and ban the Wildcats from bowl eligibility that season. It also cut the number of players UK can have on football scholarship.
Furthermore, the NCAA banned Bassett from coaching in college football for eight years.
He has since become the athletics director and football coach at a high school in Robstown, Texas.
Bassett's suit claims the plaintiffs violated anti-trust laws by banning him from coaching, that the allegations against him were based on fraudulent information and that his due process rights were violated.
