By Chris Carlson, Nate Mink and John O'Brien

Syracuse, N.Y. — An internship program that placed Syracuse University athletes at a YMCA in Oneida is part of an inquiry into possible NCAA violations by the school's athletic department.

Investigators also asked about a former YMCA employee who had exceptional access to Syracuse men's basketball players and was sued for allegedly misappropriating close to $350,000 from the Y. It is unclear if any of those funds were given to athletes.

The NCAA wrapped up its investigation into the Syracuse athletic department at a hearing late last month. Syracuse is awaiting a report by the NCAA detailing what violations, if any, were committed and any potential sanctions that will impact its programs. The school previously said in a statement that issues regarding men's basketball and football "occurred years ago, with the exception of certain issues in basketball occurring between 2010 and early 2012."

The potential violations occurring between 2010 and 2012 are believed to center around Fab Melo's academic record.

Possible issues the school said "occurred years ago" include the documentation of internship hours athletes completed at the YMCA, as well as who was responsible for approving those hours, according to sources.

The internship was part of a course required to graduate with a degree in Child and Family Studies, a popular major among athletes in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamic. According to university records, 18 percent (24 of 134) of football players were enrolled in that major from 2004-05, the time period which piqued the interest of investigators.

This new information provides details about possible NCAA violations related to the Syracuse football program and helps explain Hank Leo's role in the investigation.

Leo, the chief executive officer of the Tri-Valley YMCA in Oneida and a former tutor for the football program, participated in the university's hearing in front of the NCAA Committee on Infractions on Oct. 30-31 in Chicago, said his lawyer, Robert Whitaker.

The NCAA did not accuse the YMCA of wrongdoing, said Whitaker, who is also a lawyer for the Y. But investigators questioned whether a second person with ties to the Y provided extra benefits to football and men's basketball players, according to a source.

That individual is Jeff Cornish, the former sports director of the Tri-Valley YMCA. Investigators asked school employees whether Cornish provided checks to several athletes from an account he managed, but it's unclear if those payments were an NCAA violation.

Cornish, an Oneida resident who played basketball and baseball at Ithaca College, has no known ties to the university other than through his affiliation with the Y, yet he seemed to have a regular presence around the men's basketball program and its players.

A 2003 Oneida Daily Dispatch article describes Cornish driving Carmelo Anthony to a speaking engagement and stopping by a neighbor's house so Anthony could sign autographs.

Basketball players Terrence Roberts and Hakim Warrick attended a 2005 basketball tournament that Cornish was heavily involved in, while football players R.J. Anderson and Kyle Johnson participated in a reading event at the Oneida YMCA in 2001.

Former basketball player Dayshawn Wright said he was paid $100 by Cornish to work the scoreboard at a basketball tournament at the Oneida Y.

Cornish has been working for the Department of Transportation since 2008. He made $89,238 in 2013, according to the website www.seethroughNY.net.



A lawsuit obtained by the Post-Standard/syracuse.com reveals that the YMCA sued Cornish in 2008 in state Supreme Court, claiming he set up a bank account using the YMCA's not-for-profit tax ID number without the agency's permission and diverted as much as $338,462 to his own benefit.

The lawsuit accused Cornish of accounting fraud and unjust enrichment. It sought a full accounting of the money in the bank account and recoupment of the YMCA's money.

It is not known how or if the money was used, including whether any of it was given to Syracuse athletes.

The YMCA dropped the lawsuit eight months later, an indication that it was settled out of court.

"I have no comment," Cornish said in a statement released through his lawyer. "However, I remain a strong supporter of the YMCA and an advocate for the youth in the community."

The YMCA filed the lawsuit around the time the university severed ties with Leo.

It also exposes trouble inside the Tri-Valley YMCA, an organization that has had long ties to the university. In addition to traveling about 30 miles to Oneida to intern, Syracuse athletes also frequently participated in various charity events at the Y throughout the 2000s to raise funds.

None of those events is known to be part of the active NCAA investigation, but they all show a connection between the athletic department and the YMCA.

Bonnie Beers, a former rower for Syracuse, said a lawyer questioned her in 2006 or 2007 about her time with the YMCA. Beers believes the lawyer was affiliated with Syracuse and that the interview centered on impermissible benefits provided to Syracuse athletes through their association with the Y.



"I'd call it 'impropriety,'" said Beers, a former tutor at SU, about the line of questioning. "It was whatever the NCAA rule is that athletes benefit from some kickback or athletes get privileges that non-athletes don't get. It was something that athletes benefit from that they're not supposed to."

Beers said Leo proposed the idea of her serving as a mentor at the Oneida YMCA, along with current athletes. She remembers Leo was friends with football and basketball players and drove them to give motivational speeches, but she said she saw nothing suspicious in either his tutoring or at the Y.

Whitaker said he could not answer questions related to the NCAA investigation because he and Leo are bound by a confidentiality agreement, but he denied Leo or the YMCA paid SU athletes in violation of NCAA rules.

"He never paid any student-athletes, and it was never alleged that he did," Whitaker said. "That did not happen."

Leo did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

"He's a good man and he's always done everything with integrity," Whitaker said. "I don't think there's any evidence to the contrary."

Whitaker would not comment on what allegations, if any, involved Leo, but said all of the YMCA internships have "been done in good faith and open and honestly."

"The YMCA and Mr. Leo have never misrepresented or fabricated any information relative to those internships," Whitaker said.

But faculty members in the Department of Child and Family Studies expressed concerns with the internships at least six or seven years ago, associate professor Bruce Carter said.

The concerns were over whether students were doing the work they were supposed to be doing, he said. He discussed the issue with Irene Kehres, a professor who was in charge of the internships, Carter said.

Carter said he doesn't know whether those concerns were part of the NCAA investigation. He wasn't sure where the interns worked, only that they were in the Utica area.

Former Syracuse running back Damien Rhodes, now the head football coach at Fayetteville-Manlius High School, said he completed an internship at the Oneida YMCA in 2004.

"I know that I've always done my part," Rhodes said. "I have no issue saying that. I've always held up my end of the bargain. I can't control what other people do."

The internships were not overseen by faculty members but by graduate students and others, Carter said. Kehres was in charge of them but did not oversee the work, Carter said.

Kehres declined to discuss details, recently telling a reporter, "I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you."

"In Child and Family Studies, there wasn't that onsite supervision," Carter said. "We'd talk to students about what they were doing, and it was a little loose, I think."

That has since changed, he said. Faculty members now oversee all internships in Child and Family Studies, Carter said.

Child and Family Studies had a reputation for easy classes for athletes years ago, Carter said. That has also changed, he said.

"I think it was the case in the past the Child and Family Studies major may have been more appealing to athletes because there were fewer demands than we've put in place over the past 10 years," Carter said.

Contact Nate Mink anytime: 315-430-8253 | Email | Twitter | Facebook | Google+

Contact Chris Carlson anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1639.

Contact John O'Brien at jobrien@syracuse.com or 315-470-2187.