Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2000 | 10:22 a.m.
UNLV coach Bill Bayno and accused booster Dr. David Chapman look like twins.
Both are 38, with thin, boyish faces framed by short, slightly unruly dark hair. Let Chapman wear Bayno's eyeglasses and you would have a hard time telling them apart, at least at short distance.
That physical resemblance played a crucial role in the start of the program's latest problems with the NCAA. When Lamar Odom's aunt, Janenean Mercer, apparently mistook Chapman for Bayno at the 1996 Big Time Tournament, it was the start of a four-year odyssey that has brought the Rebels to the brink of possible major NCAA sanctions.
That meeting between Chapman, a Las Vegas dentist, and Mercer was the first in a series of violations that UNLV regards as secondary, but the consequences could be severe and long-lasting if the NCAA has a different opinion when its Committee on Infractions hears the case in September in Dallas.
Chapman, the mystery man at the center of the most serious allegations, hadn't commented on the case until talking to the Sun at the downtown office of his attorney James Chrisman.
In Monday's Sun, Chapman detailed his association with Odom, the Rebels' hot-shot recruit in 1997 who never played a game for the program. The university released him from his official letter of intent amid rumors of fraud surrounding Odom's ACT exam.
Chapman admits to supporting Odom with cash, housing and other improper benefits after UNLV released him, but Odom and the NCAA allege that Chapman gave Odom up to $6,000 in cash payments while Odom was enrolled in a UNLV summer class before his freshman year. Chapman and UNLV strongly deny those charges.
The NCAA will decide who's telling the truth, but one thing is clear -- Chapman, the booster, had close ties to his friend Bayno's program, at least before Chapman's privileges were suspended by the university because of the allegations.
Chapman asserts that outside forces in Odom's past are conspiring to tear down UNLV's program because Chapman's friendship with Odom likely prevented them from profiting from his NBA career.
Chapman also revealed that various UNLV players have worked in his dental office, concedes that as a booster he might have become too chummy with players, and talks about Bayno's reaction to learning that Odom had moved into his house after being let go by the university.
Sun: Characterize your relationship with Bill Bayno before the Lamar Odom situation and now. Did you ever go out socially?
David Chapman: We're about the same. We have gone out seldom, mostly if there was a function he wanted to invite me to. I have been out with him before. I've probably been out with him socially, where it wasn't a function, probably four or five times. What we would normally do is go golfing, watch football. I'd have him over for barbecues. That was our relationship. It wasn't the nightlife or anything like that.
Sun: Your dental practice is part of the jobs program with the UNLV athletic department. Have any men's basketball players been employed by your office?
DC: Yes. In fact, (Odom) wanted to work for me, but (UNLV) wouldn't let him, because they knew that we knew each other. Kevin Simmons worked for me when he was a redshirt, Tyrone Nesby, I think Isaiah Epps.
Sun: What would they do in your office?
DC: They would come in around (noon) and since we don't take lunch breaks, they would take everybody's order and go get lunch. We also make office runs to (various stores) to get supplies, light bulbs, whatever. (The players) would do our errands. If the girls up front needed help filing, they could do that. My patients got a kick out of coming in and talking to the players, too, so I thought it was kind of cool having them around. (Former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian) still comes to me as a patient, and every time he came in, he would see a different (UNLV) player.
Sun: You were also known to visit Rebels basketball practices. Not all boosters are allowed at practice. Did you feel that you were closer to Bayno's program than most boosters?
DC: In the whole time I've been here, I have probably been to four or five practices. When Tark was here, he usually didn't let people into practice, but I was one of the few people he let in. But to me, watching these guys practice isn't that big a deal. Heck, going to the games isn't that big a deal anymore.
Sun: Where did the nickname Dr. Tooth come from? Were you aware that players called you that?
DC: The drummer on the Muppets Show was called Dr. Tooth. My father-in-law had a license plate that was "DR.2TH." Once you could get seven letters (on vanity plates), I got "DRTOOTH" to tick him off, and the nickname came after that. People started to call me Tooth or Dr. Tooth in pick-up games and stuff.
Sun: Doesn't the nickname, visits to practice and hiring UNLV players indicate a certain chumminess that might be considered too close for a booster?
DC: Definitely. But even if the NCAA didn't have all these rules and regulations, I would still go to the (North Gym) and play with those guys. Just because those guys are on scholarship, they can't be chummy with me? ... What I should've never done was become a booster. I should've just gotten tickets and gone to the games, because I don't really care about being a booster. Don't get me wrong, I want to help in any fundraising (UNLV does). But I'm still a kid at heart. If I could go out and dunk over Lamar right now and talk trash, I would do it. I get a kick out of these guys being chummy with me. They see my license plate when I leave and that's how they started calling me Tooth or Dr. Tooth. It makes them feel like they know somebody and there's somebody who can relate to them, because at 38 I still can relate to most of those guys.
Sun: Did you ever tell Bayno that Odom was living with you? Did you ask for Bayno's "blessing" or did he learn about it through the grapevine?
DC: I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. If anyone needed to get hold of Lamar, Bayno knew that he was at my house. And that's when Bayno started feeling like Lamar had been there too long and saying, "Get him out of town." But I didn't hide it from him or anything.
Sun: Why do you think Bayno was so intent on getting Odom out of town? Because it looked bad?
DC: Yeah, probably. Staying at a booster's house.
Sun: Did you ever tell Bayno that you were giving Odom cash or letting him drive your car?
DC: It's one of those things. You're a coach and you have a player staying at a booster's house. I'm not going to say, "I'm giving him this, I'm giving him that." Bayno never asked. I was never hiding it. If he would have asked, I would've said, "Yes, where's he going to eat?" And when the papers accuse me of giving him cars and clothing and food and all that ... basically, if I'm making dinner, I'm going to make it for both of us. It wasn't like, here's $600, go out and eat. It was like, here's a warm bed to sleep in. I don't feel like driving you, so take my car. I didn't know he didn't have a license.
Sun: Good thing Odom didn't wreck your car.
DC: He dented it a couple of times.
Sun: In its official response, UNLV admits that your support of Odom constitutes a violation, but it believes any penalties should be "substantially mitigated" because the benefits allegedly occurred after the university released Odom. It sounds as if UNLV is pleading for the NCAA's mercy. Is that a compelling defense?
DC: Yeah, because UNLV didn't do anything wrong.
Sun: Do you think because it's UNLV and it's an NCAA case, there's an automatic assumption of guilt by the NCAA?
DC: I think the NCAA has to do their job and investigate any story. But I think the story was started by political people who lost Lamar -- Gary Charles (Odom's former summer coach) and (Adidas representative) Sonny Vaccaro. They're the ones who are like, OK, we're going to teach Bayno a lesson. The great guard that Utah signed this year (Kevin Bradley), (UNLV) all but had him signed. But I hear Sonny stopped it, because he's still teaching Bayno a lesson. That's my opinion. It's second-hand information. Sonny calls these kids. Lamar told me a lot about what they do. It's a dirty business. They feel like they lost Lamar because Bayno let me get close to him.
Sun: Charles and Vaccaro felt they were going to profit down the line after Odom became a pro?
DC: Yeah, so now any great players that (Charles and Vaccaro) are involved with, they won't let them come to UNLV. At one time, a couple of years ago, there was a report that seven (players) were going to leave (UNLV's) team, that Bayno was doing a (bad) job, this and that. I heard second-hand that it was because of personal phone calls made (to players) by (Vaccaro), telling them we want you to leave that school, that Bayno can't coach.
Sun: It has become pretty clear that Vaccaro and Bayno are not tight.
DC: And (Vaccaro) hates me. That's why there are all these allegations. They want to teach me, because they see that Lamar and I got close. I was this close to really doing something with Lamar. So they will hurt UNLV, which will have to hurt me. ... Business-wise, it has kind of hurt me.
Sun: Can you quantify how it has hurt? Have patients left?
DC: I think patients probably have. If you read that stuff that's really negative, why would you go to (that dentist)? But I've also had patients write me postcards, saying you know the kind of person you are, keep your head up, we love you. But these are people who understand a lot of what's been in the media isn't really the truth. But the people who read the paper and believe it and look down on whatever they read, I'm sure they've left.
Sun: The scary part for UNLV is its defense is predicated on drawing a line between benefits Odom got after his release, but claiming nothing was given while he was a student. But the NCAA might say that doesn't matter anyway, because once Odom was released, he reverted to being a Prospective Student-Athlete (PSA) for UNLV. That might take the teeth out of the university's defense.
(Chrisman interjects: "Not only was (Odom) released, but Bayno said he will never play at UNLV. That was his statement. I really don't think the NCAA can be that bad (to punish UNLV after it willingly released a recruit of Odom's stature).")
Sun: Since March, you have been suspended from associating with UNLV athletics along with fellow booster Steve Stein, who is accused to giving money to Odom and others. There have been no basketball games since then, so what has been the effect?
DC: Image-wise. My thing is, I'm a huge UNLV fan. Not because of Bayno, not because of the players. I've gone to the games since I was 7 years old. ... It's being told that you can't be a booster, when you really respect the program and really haven't done anything to hurt the program. It's really not a just situation.
Sun: In past cases, when the full wrath of the repeat-violator rule could have been imposed, the NCAA almost always handed down lesser penalties. But often the trade-off is that university people get fired and boosters get permanently disassociated from the program. If that happens to you in this case, how would that hurt you?
DC: It would hurt me psychologically a lot. Because it's something I take a lot of pride in, this city, UNLV basketball ... and football. I'm one of the fans who goes out to every football game.
Sun: Even when they were lousy?
DC: They still are lousy (laughs). But I also went to football games when they were the best, when they sold out. It's not just (men's) basketball. I go to women's basketball. My daughter loves women's basketball. I go watch soccer.
Sun: Have you been threatened by anyone as a result of your actions or testimony?
DC: I've gotten prank phone calls at work. I had one or two threatening ones.
Sun: Do you feel any regret about your actions, or is there no reason for that?
DC: I have regrets. The regret is it's so stupid. I'm going through this when I never really had to do this (help Odom). My biggest regret is putting UNLV in danger. I have a lot of boosters as friends and patients, and also a regent, and they are worried over what's going to happen to the school. And I'm worried. I just think it's something that should've been avoided. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have ever socialized with Lamar at all. But I got a kick out of knowing him and playing ball with him.
Sun: Do you think the current climate in college basketball leads people to assume a certain slime factor when any booster gets involved with an athlete?
DC: Anytime you read an article, the word booster has a little slant on it. You think of money, illegal representation, all that stuff.
Sun: The word booster is awfully loaded.
DC: Yeah. But you give a certain amount of money to the scholarship fund and you're a booster.
Sun: What do you want to tell Sun readers about David Chapman that they don't know or might be mistaken about?
DC: I think they should know that I'm a free-spirited guy, and that these allegations have been brought forward (by people) who are trying to hurt the school and me indirectly. It is basically a scam to get the school in trouble, and I would like people to know I didn't do anything wrong.
Sun: But, about the things you have admitted ...?
DC: Those things weren't wrong. (UNLV) didn't gain any advantage from those things, because they weren't trying to get Lamar back in school. It really doesn't have anything to do with UNLV.
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