Major Ticket Scandal in Kansas
This story surfaced on the front page of Yahoo News this morning about a major ticket scandal in Kansas:
LAWRENCE, Kan. – A high-ranking member of the University of Kansas athletic department and the father of a prominent Jayhawks’ athlete allegedly made more than $800,000 in a ticket scalping operation that was orchestrated by college basketball power brokers David and Dana Pump, Yahoo! Sports has learned.
The scope, breadth and duration of the scalping business – which included Big 12 and NCAA tournament tickets – extended beyond Kansas to other schools, a source told federal authorities.
David Freeman, a Lawrence real estate developer who said he participated in the scheme, told Yahoo! Sports that he, former Kansas director of ticket operations Rodney Jones and high-profile alum Roger Morningstar – the father of Jayhawks guard Brady Morningstar – were following the instructions of the Pump brothers when the trio made hundreds of thousands of dollars scalping tickets during the 2002 and 2003 NCAA tournaments.
Freeman said the California-based Pumps – who advise schools on coaching hires and run traveling summer teams across the country – were conducting similar operations with colleges around the nation and often scalped tickets they received from college head coaches.
“It’s about time everyone heard the real story,” Freeman said in a phone interview two weeks ago. “It’s time everyone heard the truth.”
Reached by phone Tuesday night, David Pump declined to comment. Dana Pump could not be reached.
Freeman, who has a pair of drug convictions on his record from 1989, was scheduled to begin an 18-month jail sentence Thursday on an unrelated bribery charge. However, a source with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday that Freeman’s reporting date has been delayed 30 days. The FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney’s office all declined comment for this story.
ncluding potential tax evasion, theft, money laundering and other possible crimes. A source familiar with the investigation confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that Freeman tied multiple individuals to the scalping operation, including college sports entrepreneurs David and Dana Pump, KU athletics department employee Rodney Jones, and former KU basketball star Roger Morningstar, the father of current Jayhawks guard Brady Morningstar.
February, 2010 – KU ticket office manager Charlette Blubaugh resigns.
March 9, 2010 – KU places athletic department employee Rodney Jones on administrative leave. Jones, the school’s former ticket manager, was promoted in 2004 to director of the Williams Fund – the fundraising branch of KU’s athletic department.
March 24, 2010 – The University of Kansas announces it has hired a Wichita-based firm to do an independent investigation of the school’s ticket office and athletic fundraising in the Williams Fund.
April 5, 2010 – Ben Kirtland, the associate athletic director for development, resigns. Kirtland was the highest ranking athletic department employee overseeing the Williams Fund.
April 16, 2010 – Rodney Jones resigns.
April 22, 2010 – Lawrence developer David Freeman is sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the Junction City bribery case. Afterward, Freeman’s lawyer, Carl Cornwell, reveals Freeman’s role in tipping federal authorities to ticket improprieties at KU. Kansas athletic department officials decline to comment.
April 30, 2010 – KU announces that two additional employees with ties to the ticket office have resigned: Brandon Simmons, assistant athletics director for sales and marketing, and Jason Jeffries, assistant director of ticket operations.
Freeman first divulged the details of the ticket scalping in an interview with a current Yahoo! Sports reporter during the summer of 2006. He repeated the story to federal agents during multiple interviews within the last year, a source said. Both Freeman and his lawyer refused further comment for this story, citing the ongoing federal probe.
In the wake of Freeman’s statements, the FBI and IRS launched an investigation into Kansas’ ticket office and fundraising departments earlier this year. The school responded by placing Jones – who in 2004 was promoted to director of the Williams Fund, the primary fundraising arm of the athletic department – on administrative leave. He eventually resigned.
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