The NCAA continues to stalk Miami Hurricanes senior defensive end / tight end Dyron Dye, requesting a third sit-down to discuss what they’re referring to as discrepancies in what he said in a 2011 sit-down and a recent affidavit to support former UM assistant coach, Aubrey Hill.
Dye’s attorney Darren Heitner stated that Dye stands by what was written in the affidavit and made it clear that his client will cooperate.
“My client stands behind the statements he made in his affidavit, which we understand is supported by affidavits signed by other former players,” Heitner said. “Nevertheless, we will cooperate with the NCAA and comply with its request for a third interview.”
The NCAA is looking to pursue the 10.1 charge against Dye, in regards to unethical conduct by those involved in collegiate athletics — those same unethical tactics the NCAA has used relentlessly in their pursuit of UM, choosing not to practice what they preach or to punish themselves as they have others.
Dye has come out and stated that the NCAA has twisted his words, something that former quarterback Jacory Harris also echoed recently and according to the AP story, more past players involved in the case will come out saying the same thing happened in their investigation-related interviews.
Now-retired NCAA investigator Rich Johanningmeier is said to have threatened Dye’s scholarship and remaining eligibility.
“I felt compelled to testify in a manner that would be consistent with the manner in which Mr. Johanningmeier was directing me in order to keep my eligibility,” Dye wrote.
Johanningmeier and his Gestapo tactics have been linked to the UM investigation before. A former University of Miami staffer, who chose to remain nameless for a recent article with the Miami New Times, recounts an August 2011 sit-down with Johanningmeier.
“He was brutal,” recalls the former UM staffer. “He was presenting things as facts, whether they were true or not. I remember situations where I was telling the truth, and he just wouldn’t accept it, and there was nothing I could do to prove it to him.”
The New Times piece went on to list some controversy in Johanningmeier’s past, which included taking down two University of Alabama football coaches based on shoddy information for ‘secret’ witnesses and manipulating witness testimony to concoct an allegation against former Mississippi head coach Jackie Sherill.
Regarding the Alabama situation, the recruitment of a star high school athlete and supposed payments to his then-high school coaches, Johanningmeier went after Crimson Tide assistant Ivy Williams.
“He’d come in with that buddy-buddy deal,” recalls Williams. “But if you don’t tell him what he wants to hear, the script is gonna get flipped and you’re going to be the center of attention.”
Williams stook his ground, which set off Johanningmeier and brought all the supposed testimony from the secret witnesses.
“They tell you all this stuff about what somebody has said about you and what you supposedly did, but they never tell you who that person is,” Williams said. “And they tell you what you can’t talk about and what you shouldn’t say, and the next day, it’s leaked out.”
Johanningmeier and the NCAA eventually lost a defamation suit brought on by the Alabama assistants and was involved in a lawsuit with Sherrill. The former Mississippi State head coach’s attorney Wayne Ferrell had some choice words regarding Johanningmeier.
“Johanningmeier did a lot of things in our investigation which were not right,” Ferrell said. “The information from the University of Miami is very interesting. It’s the exact same thing that he did in this investigation and in the Alabama investigation.”
Thomas Gallion, who represented the Crimson Tide assistants, referred to that situation as “the most blatantly un-American thing ever.”
“The NCAA, they were one of the more corrupt, blatantly — for lack of a better word — Hitleristic organizations I’ve ever seen,” Gallion said.
Regarding the Miami case, Johanningmeier was the investigator Shaprio’s first letter was addressed to back in February 2011. He also visited Shapiro in jain with since-fired investigator, Ameen Najjar, who eventually wrote a letter to a judge on Shapiro’s behalf and hinted at a career where he con artists could work with and for the NCAA down the road.
Johanningmeier is also said to have purchased disposable cell phones at the time, for communication with Shapiro, as well as putting almost $5,000 in his prison commissary account.
Johanningmeier is also linked to shamed Shapiro attorney Maria Elena Perez, who emailed Johanningmeier, offering to use Shapiro’s bankruptcy hearings to help the NCAA’s case against UM. NCAA records show that Johanningmeier formed all the questions Perez would eventually use in the depositions.
Johanningmeier wound up “retiring” in May 2012, around the time Najjar was fired. Vice President of Enforcement Julie Roe Lach was also let go soon thereafter, the fall gal for approving the improper financial relationship between the NCAA and Perez. Johanningmeier escaped unscathed while others took the fall. Typical NCAA shadiness.
Regarding Dye, he sat out the first four games of the 2011 season and had to repay the $738 in benefits received from Nevin Shapiro in the way of an alleged strip club visit and dinner on a recruiting trip. It’s also alleged that Dye stayed at the home Hill, as well as former coach Clint Hurtt, on unofficial recruiting visits to Miami.
So in summary, Dye cooperated and his paying back of the $738 stemmed from his honesty with the NCAA. He missed four games of his sophomore year, for something that happened when he was a high school senior and now as a college senior, making the switch from offense back to defense and trying to salvage what’s left of his career – while recovering from an Achilles injury – he’s being questioned a third time by the same corrupt organization who stuck him in a room with Johanningmeier and now doubts why his testimony isn’t adding up.
The Notoriously Corrupt Arrogant Asses are trying to paint Dye into a corner, but this too looks like it will backfire, like so many other half-baked tactics. Discrepancies in Dye’s statement will fall on Johanningmeier’s shoulders and more players and staffers will corroborate that in due time. Watch it play out.