Report: Hurricanes' Golden used booster to recruit players

Jul 21, 2012 - 5:26 AM Miami, FL (Sports Network) - The University of Miami's head football coach Al Golden is reported to have used an employee to circumvent NCAA rules to recruit Miami-area players.

Yahoo! Sports reported Friday that former equipment manager Sean "Pee Wee" Allen was used by Golden to provide improper benefits and improperly contact Miami recruits to try and convince them to commit to the school.

Allen was an associate of now-disgraced former south Florida businessman Nevin Shapiro, who is currently serving a prison sentence for a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme. Shapiro was also found to have given impermissible benefits to Miami recruits.

Golden was hired by Miami in 2010 and has repeatedly said that he is trying to distance the program from the Shapiro era, but Allen has testified that Golden knowingly used him as an "off-the-books" recruiter.