Saturday, December 18, 1999
Auburn will pay for Brooks' literacy
BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
James Brooks spent six years at Auburn University, but Hamilton County is where he'll learn to read — and Auburn will foot the bill.
The former Bengal left the Alabama school in 1983, illiterate and without a degree.
Auburn President William V. Muse — chastened after Mr. Brooks told a Hamilton County judge last month that he hadn't paid child support because his illiteracy prevented him from holding a good job — has offered to help Mr. Brooks overcome his learning problems.
The school invited Mr. Brooks back to finish his bachelor's degree as part of its “Operation Follow-Through” program, in which athletes who leave for sports careers before getting diplomas can return tuition-free. Graduates include Bo Jackson, who played in the NFL and Major League Baseball.
Or the school will pay for literacy classes wherever Mr. Brooks enrolls, Mr. Muse wrote in a letter this week to Hamil ton County Common Pleas Judge Steven Martin.
Judge Martin, who ordered Mr. Brooks to attend literacy classes as part of probation, said the county will accept Auburn's offer.
Mr. Brooks, the Bengals' career rushing leader, once signed football contracts exceeding $1 million a year. But his attorney, Michael Barrett, said Mr. Brooks is now a broke, unskilled laborer who owes more than $110,000 to the mothers of two of his children.
Cases like Mr. Brooks' spurred the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1986 to establish academic eligibility requirements for sports participation.
“We have gone a long way toward eliminating the James Brooks-type of situation,” NCAA spokesman Wallace Renfro said.
Recent Brooks stories:
'Deadbeat' Brooks faces 2 years in prison Oct. 28
Brooks back to jail Nov. 25
Why James can't read Tim Sullivan column, Dec. 5
Brooks freed from jail to pay support Dec. 7
Shootout or blowout?
Keys to victory
DerMarr would do well to emulate Martin
XU needs Williams' poise, scoring
Musty Gardens filled with memories
Tate took Shootout lesson
Turner likely out; XU will suffer inside
Who's got the edge?
Crosstown Shootout Flashback
Miami hurting for Wright State
UK-UL lacking luster
Cincinnati boys basketball roundup
Lakota West 49, Lakota East 36
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
N.Ky. boys basketball roundup
NewCath 75, Bishop Brossart 57
Kentucky boys basketball scores
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Mighty Ducks 3, Louisville 3
Milwaukee 6, Cyclones 5
Stuff 100, St. Louis 97
Gugliotta hospitalized after seizure on bus
Tristate talent keys Georgetown's title run