Beverley Backs Off Implicating Teammates

FAYETTEVILLE — Former guard Patrick Beverley said he misspoke during an interview with DraftExpress.com last week, backing off comments that his teammates had class papers done for them while at Arkansas.

Beverley, who is preparing for the 2009 NBA Draft, says he made a mistake during the interview, which was conducted in Chicago last week.

The DraftExpress.com interview, in which Beverley said someone from Arkansas was doing “me and some of my teammates’ papers,” can be found on YouTube.com.

“I don’t want no love lost back in Arkansas,” Beverley told The Morning News on Tuesday. “I definitely want to clear up some things. I accept what happened with me. I can only control what was going on with me. I had a paper wrote for me and I accept full responsibility. I don’t know about everybody else and what they had going on, but I know what’s up with me.”

Beverley was asked about the DraftExpress.com comments during an interview with The Morning News late last week. At that time, he admitted to cheating on a class paper but remained guarded when asked about the allegation that teammates also were involved.

Beverley said he didn’t want to “throw anyone under the bus” and accepted responsibility for his actions.

But the original allegation that some of his teammates were involved raised plenty of eyebrows. Arkansas issued one short statement saying it conducted a “full and thorough review of the matter and took swift action based on all aspects of its findings.” The school said it could not comment further because of student privacy laws.

UA chancellor Dave Gearhart said he was “as surprised as anyone” with Beverley’s claims and indicated the athletic department would look into the matter. Gearhart said action against Beverley would not likely be taken if the allegations proved true because he’s no longer a student. But if current students were involved the school would “take that very seriously.”

Beverley, who has been working out for NBA teams, said he hasn’t spoken with Arkansas officials about his comments this week.

He was pressed for more details regarding his suspension Monday, but Beverley said he just wanted to focus on the draft.

“Let me clear all this up: I don’t know who was involved,” he said. “I’m going to say that. I’m going to say I know what I’ve done and I accept full responsibility. I learned from my mistakes and the past was the past. I’m living in the present now. I served my punishment. I learned from it a lot.

“I’m just trying to carry on and move up this draft board, which I’m doing very well. I’m going to try to keep the momentum going.”