by Fitzgerald Cecilio

Seattle, WA

Washington Huskies defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi is in hot water after it was reported that he allegedly paid $4,500 cash for recruit Andrew Basham's tutoring and online classes.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Lupoi allegedly paid for Basham's private tutoring and online classes.

Basham, a former defensive lineman at Lynnwood High School, signed a letter of intent with the Huskies last February but did not qualify academically to enroll.

Lupoi, in a text message to the Los Angeles Times, denied any wrongdoing.

A University of Washington athletic department spokesman confirmed that the UW, along with USC, is investigating Lupoi's NCAA recruiting violation.

Earlier, Basham's coach at Lynnwood High, Mike Davis, told The Seattle Times that he contacted the NCAA about Lupoi's alleged payments.

Davis revealed that he had received the cash payments from Lupoi on two occasions, first in February and then in May at the UW football offices. He verified the payments to the L.A. Times with bank records.

Davis said that he plans to bring those documents to a scheduled meeting with the NCAA, UW and USC at the UW campus.

Davis denied that he was the whistleblower that tipped off the L.A. Times but he said that he knew who it was.

"I just couldn't lie about it. Who am I if I lie about it, you know what I'm saying? I just felt like I had to tell the truth. ... It's like I've been run over by the bus, and I'm just trying to be honest with the whole thing," Davis said.

The-32-year-old Lupoi, 32, joined Steve Sarkisian's UW staff in 2012 after spending the previous four years at California where he built a reputation as one of the top recruiters in the Pac-12 Conference.

Washington wooed him away from Cal by making him one of the highest-paid coaches in the Pac-12, earning about $350,000 annually.

 

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