Cotton Family Offers Investigators Documentation on Car in Question

Incoming UCLA freshman basketball player Schea Cotton was interviewed by officials from the NCAA and UCLA on Sunday as part of an investigation into late-model cars driven by two UCLA basketball recruits.

NCAA investigator Carl Hicks and Rich Herczog, UCLA director of compliance, met with Cotton at his parents’ home in Long Beach for almost two hours. Also present were Cotton’s parents, James and Gaynell, and his older brother James, a rookie guard with the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics.

The Cottons said they produced documentation, including canceled checks, to prove they are paying for the 1997 Ford Explorer that Schea drives, leased from Ford of Orange. The NCAA is also examining the Ford Eddie Bauer edition sport-utility vehicle driven by Bruin freshman-to-be Baron Davis, plus cars of several other Southland players acquired through the same dealership.

“I work too hard to have my kids’ names involved in any allegations like this,” said the elder James Cotton, a construction worker. “I pay my bills. We showed them everything we had because we want this to be over.”

The Cottons were not given a timetable on the investigation. However, Hicks still has interviews to conduct, sources close to the investigation said.

Davis, his older sister Lisa Hodoh and Pat Barrett, a longtime Orange County youth basketball coach, who coached Cotton and Davis, were among those scheduled to be interviewed. Among the issues being explored is whether Barrett helped Cotton and Davis acquire their cars. Attempts Sunday to contact Barrett, Davis and Hodoh were unsuccessful.

Officials at Ford of Orange said they do not discuss their business dealings. They said they have not been questioned by Hicks or provided any documentation for the investigator.

“If someone was doing something with our cars that the NCAA regarded as improper, we wouldn’t condone that,” said Alex Simovich, the dealership’s finance director. “But if someone comes in to lease a car and it winds up in the hands of someone who shouldn’t have it, then there’s nothing we can do about that.”

Gaynell Cotton, Schea’s mother, said the investigation is taking a toll on her family.

“We’re all losing sleep,” she said. “We’ve done nothing wrong with this car, but all the speculation out there is very hard to deal with. I just wish this whole thing could be over.”