KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer will not have to give a deposition in a lawsuit involving a former Alabama booster next week, according to a court order.
Fulmer was issued a subpoena on July 24 during the Southeastern Conference’s media day to give testimony for Wendell Smith’s lawsuit against the NCAA stemming from a decade-old Alabama recruiting scandal.
Fulmer was ordered to give a deposition on Sept. 25, two days before the Vols play at Auburn, but attorneys for Fulmer and Smith agreed that he would not be required to testify then.
“It certainly won’t be given next week,” said Fulmer’s attorney, Jeff Hagood. “We have filed a motion to quash any deposition.”
Smith’s attorneys must ask that the court hold a hearing on that motion in Jackson County, Ala., Circuit Court if they want Fulmer to eventually give a deposition.
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The NCAA placed Alabama on probation in February 2001 for recruiting violations, including allegations that Smith, a Chattanooga businessman, provided $20,000, lodging and entertainment as an inducement to prospect Kenny Smith. The Smiths are not related.
Fulmer and some of his staff spoke with an NCAA investigator in 2000 about various Alabama recruits and the belief that some boosters were buying top recruits.
His interviews were supposed to remain secret but became exposed when the NCAA handed over documents in a court case against another Crimson Tide booster, Logan Young.
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