Former Fresno State men's basketball players had academic course work written for them and some of their term papers were paid for by money funneled through a Las Vegas street agent, according to people who say they were directly involved.

The allegations of academic fraud during the Coach Jerry Tarkanian era involve at least three former players and former academic adviser Katie Felten.

Stephen Mintz, a former Fresno State basketball statistician, told The Bee he wrote and delivered 17 pieces of course work in 2000 for three players - Courtney Alexander, Terrance Roberson and Dennis Nathan - in violation of the student code of conduct and NCAA regulations. Mintz, 39, said he was paid nearly $1,500 for the work, in payments from Alexander or Felten.

Nate Cebrun, who has been a central figure in two NCAA scandals, told The Bee he funneled at least $1,500 in cash from Las Vegas-based sports agent Robert Walsh to Felten for term papers to be written for Roberson and another Fresno State player in 2000.

Cebrun said he did not know who was writing the papers, and that he never has heard of Mintz. Mintz said he never has met Cebrun and was not aware Cebrun was involved in delivering money for term papers.

Former player Travis Robinson, Charles Bailey, a team manager during the 2000-01 season, and another former player who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were aware of players who had course work written for them. Both Robinson and the player who spoke anonymously said in separate interviews that they knew of at least five players who had work done for them. Both players said no work was done for them.

"If you were on the team, you knew it happened," said Robinson, who played six games in 1999 before quitting the team.

Academic fraud is considered one of college athletics' worst transgressions because it strikes at the integrity of the university, and these violations would carry one of the stiffest penalties if affirmed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the organization that governs collegiate sports.

The NCAA sanctioned the University of Minnesota after violations by its men's basketball program were uncovered in 1999 -- a scandal considered one of the worst academic fraud cases. The Gophers received a four-year probation, lost five scholarships, repaid revenue from NCAA Tournament appearances, removed banners from their arena and missed one postseason. (The last was self-imposed.)

Fresno State President John Welty said Friday that the university has been aware of allegations regarding men's basketball players having academic work completed for them. Those allegations have been part of the 21/2-year ongoing joint investigation with the NCAA, he said.

Welty said that not all of the people the university wants to speak with about the allegations have been cooperative. "Not everyone has been willing to talk with us," said Welty, who declined to elaborate.

Tarkanian said Friday he did not know whether the school was investigating allegations of academic fraud. Tarkanian also said he was not aware of any players who had academic course work done by others.

"In 37 years of coaching, I've never had a case of academic fraud," Tarkanian said. "I can't believe what you are saying is accurate. We have always taken academics very seriously."

Roberson, who admitted in November that he had accepted money from Cebrun, and Alexander denied having course work written for them. Nathan could not be reached to comment.

"If I said Katie did papers, you'd nail her to the cross ...," Roberson said in a Jan. 10, 2003, telephone interview. "If we did have term papers done, I'm pretty sure we're not the only Fresno State team that did. Why aren't you looking into other sports?"

In October, when approached in the lobby of the Deerfield, Ill., Hyatt, where she was staying while training for a new job, Felten refused to answer questions regarding allegations of academic fraud.

"Run [the story]," Felten said. "I have nothing to say." Torrance-based attorney Al Schallau, who said he represents Felten, later informed The Bee in writing that any subsequent attempts to contact Felten would result in legal action.

Felten did not respond to a telephone message left for her last week.

Mintz provided The Bee with a computer disk that contains copies of 16 pieces of course work that Mintz said he wrote for Roberson and Alexander. He also provided a paper allegedly written and turned in for Nathan in August 2000. In addition, Mintz turned over research materials he used to write many of the papers.

The 16 pieces of course work bear the names of Roberson and Alexander, and most have the names of the course instructors. A computer examination of the disk confirmed that the papers were written on the days Mintz says he wrote each one in early 2000.

The topics for the 16 papers matched the topics assigned in the two courses, Marriage and Family Relationships and Social Stratification. Both are correspondence courses offered through the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo.

Ten of the papers were written for Alexander and six for Roberson. Six of Alexander's papers and all six of Roberson's papers are for the Social Stratification correspondence course. Four of Alexander's papers are for the Marriage and Family Relationships correspondence course, in which The Bee has confirmed Alexander was enrolled.

Instructors at the University of Southern Colorado are required to retain graded copies of students' papers for one year, school officials said. Papers prepared by Mintz could not be matched with graded copies because instructors no longer had them.

But a Southern Colorado source, reading the first page of the final exam which bears Alexander's name and which Mintz said he wrote, said the first question matched the type of question given in the Marriage and Family Relationships course.

In addition, the types of papers Mintz provided for the Social Stratification course included one paper, four article reviews and one exam, matching exactly the types of assignments due in the course as outlined in the current course synopsis. The types of papers Mintz provided for the Marriage and Family Relationships course included three journal article reviews and one exam, matching exactly the types of assignments due in the course as outlined in the current course synopsis.

A request for academic transcripts for Alexander, Roberson and Nathan was denied by Fresno State. A university spokesman cited privacy laws.

The majority of correspondence courses offered through the University of Southern Colorado use approved proctors to administer exams, according to the school's independent study course book. Both the Marriage and Family Relationships course and the Social Stratification course use exams that don't use proctors, school officials said.

The university, which offers nearly 100 correspondence courses, relies on an honor code to monitor cheating on correspondence courses, according to university spokeswoman Cora Zaletel. The school has about 1,500 students enrolled in correspondence courses each year, she said.

"When you have an online or correspondence course, you don't have face-to-face meetings between professors and students," Zaletel said. "By entering into the course, students vow that the course work done will be their own. The faculty member trusts that the work done is done by the student enrolled. There is no way to know for sure, and that's true for a day-to-day course, as well."

Al Bohl, University of Kansas athletic director, was Fresno State's athletic director during the 1999-2000 season. Bohl, who said he "monitored academics very closely for all sports," declined to say whether he had investigated allegations regarding possible academic fraud during his tenure. Instead, he referred comment to the current administration.

Fresno State athletic director Scott Johnson, Bohl's successor, and Mintz spoke after the March 2, 2002, home game against Hawaii. (Mintz was in the press room because he was doing freelance radio work on the game.)

"I told him that I wanted to talk to him outside," Mintz said. "He declined. He leaned in to me, and I told him that I wanted to clarify what he may have heard I told [The Bee] regarding me writing papers for players. He told me to put it into writing.

"I wanted to assure him that I would not be cooperating with The Bee on any story about this. ... He didn't want to talk in private or in public."

Johnson said he "vaguely" remembers speaking with Mintz after that game, and said he "may have" asked Mintz to put allegations in writing but doesn't recall it. "I did not receive anything from [Mintz]," Johnson said.

Johnson said the school has received allegations regarding academic fraud involving the men's basketball program in the past from anonymous sources, but no one with "firsthand" knowledge.

Mintz said he did not hear from any Fresno State administrator on the subject again until, he said, Fresno State compliance officer Jamie Mullin called him Jan. 29, 2003, and asked to speak with him regarding his role in tutoring players. Mintz, who said he never was a paid tutor, said Mullin told him school officials had received "reports" that men's basketball players may have had work done for them. Mullin would neither confirm nor deny Friday whether he called Mintz, and declined further comment.

But Johnson confirmed that the school "recently" has been in communication with Mintz.

Mintz had refused to disclose his involvement to The Bee for more than a year. He finally agreed to an interview on Dec. 26, 2002, after a Bee reporter approached him with allegations from multiple sources and documentation about the courses involved, all of which indicated academic fraud.

"You [The Bee] had me dead to rights, and speaking was better than not speaking," Mintz said. "Second, I felt compelled to speak up on my behalf and on the behalf of Katie ... and to clear up the possibility that the truth may not come to light properly."


Felten graduated from Fresno State in 1996 with a degree in sociology, according to the team's media guide. She became the academic adviser to the men's basketball team during the 1996-97 season, Tarkanian's second as Fresno State's coach. The previous season she had worked in the school's athletics academic advising unit.

Felten's duties, as outlined in the team's media guide, included tending to the initial and continuing eligibility certification for student-athletes with the NCAA and Western Athletic Conference; organizing and supervising class schedules; arranging for tutors and serving as a tutor on the road; supervising study hall; and tracking graduation rates for all sports.

Felten left her position at Fresno State before the 2001-02 season.

Mintz became friends with Felten during his work on the Fox SportsNet documentary "Between the Madness," which chronicled the 1997-98 season. Mintz was associate producer on the project.

Early in the 1999-2000 season, Mintz said, he was in Felten's office when she lamented that she had to complete several papers for players. The two then agreed that he would help her, Mintz said: "She was tired of writing papers for players."

Mintz said he gave all the papers he did for players to Felten for her to turn in, either by mailing or e-mailing them to the correspondence course. He said he saw Felten enclose some papers for the correspondence courses in envelopes for mailing, and saw her send at least one paper through e-mail.

"I would give Katie the papers on disk," Mintz said. "Some of the papers on the disk are in a folder entitled 'Print these.' Those are to remind Katie that those had to be mailed in. We were always in communication, so I knew the method they'd be sent in. Katie and I would talk a lot."

There was one exception: Mintz said he slid one paper for Alexander under the door of a second-floor office in Fresno State's Social Sciences building. "It had to be handed in that day," Mintz said. "Courtney was on an away game. He told me to slide it under the door." Mintz said he completed and turned in that assignment for a Fresno State course, but did not remember the name of the course.

Mintz said the paper he wrote for Nathan was a "rush job" done in August 2000, a month before Nathan began his only year in the men's basketball program. Mintz said Felten told him it was a "special situation," and that she could not tell him who it was for. He said he was unable to put the player's name on it. Mintz's copy of the paper obtained by The Bee did not have the name of a professor or player on it. Mintz did not know to which institution the paper was submitted.

Mintz said Felten told him the player was a recruit and that was why they had to be "very secretive about it." Once the paper was completed, Mintz said, he took the disk to her office and she brought it up on her computer.

Inside Felten's office, Mintz was introduced to a player he had never met. "Stephen," Mintz remembered Felten saying, "this is Dennis Nathan." Mintz said he shook his hand and that Nathan thanked him for doing the paper.

Felten typed Nathan's name on the computer version of the paper inside the office, Mintz said. Nathan then left. Mintz said he charged Felten more than usual -- $150 -- because it was a "rush job." Mintz said he normally charged about $15 a page, but he charged about $20 a page for the Nathan paper.

Mintz said Nathan's paper was for a correspondence course, but he did not know which one. He said he had been given the course syllabus. "I remember picking up two biographies online and skimming the heck out of them." Mintz said Felten told him several days later that he no longer would be writing papers for players because he "charged too much."

Cebrun said he funneled money to Felten because he was trying to steer Roberson and another Fresno State player to Walsh, then president of the agency Big Time Sports, so Walsh could represent them when they turned pro. Cebrun said he was with Walsh on more than one occasion when Roberson and the other player called Walsh to ask for money.

Walsh did not return telephone messages left at his Las Vegas office.

"All I did was send the money out that Walsh gave me," Cebrun said.

Cebrun said the first payment for term papers was made during the road trip for the Feb. 24, 2000, Tulsa game that sources close to the program confirmed Cebrun attended. The Bee confirmed Felten was on that road trip through Fresno State cell phone records that revealed she had roaming charges from Tulsa, Okla., on Feb. 24.

Cebrun said he was told by a Fresno State assistant that Felten wanted to see him in a room at the team's hotel. Cebrun said they talked about term papers and that he gave her $500 cash.

Cebrun said he delivered the second payment during a game-day practice for a Western Athletic Conference regular-season home game just before the WAC tournament.

He said he delivered the third term-paper payment at the WAC tournament in Fresno, which took place March 9-11, 2000. Cebrun said that when the players went to their team meal, he gave Felten about $500.

Cebrun said Roberson called him a few times to tell him the term papers had been taken care of and to thank him.

Roberson denies making the calls: "I never called him to thank him for s---." Cebrun said he had phone conversations with Felten during the season regarding term papers being completed for players.

He recalled this conversation:

Cebrun: "We [Cebrun and Walsh] need some papers taken care of."

Felten: "Well, you know that is not a problem. Let me call you back and give you the price."

Colleen Preiss is a Las Vegas resident who, along with Cebrun and Walsh, was charged with illegally funneling $2,500 during the 1999- 2000 season to Auburn standout Chris Porter, whose season was cut short when the payments were uncovered. All charges against Preiss were dropped.

Preiss said she heard that conversation between Cebrun and Felten on a speaker phone in Cebrun's home.

"That was for term papers for graduation," Preiss said.

Preiss, who owned a cleaning service Walsh employed at the time, said she overheard phone conversations between Walsh and Cebrun regarding payments for term papers for Roberson and another player. Cebrun said Preiss also cleaned Cebrun's home.

"Nate would be on the phone with Walsh," she said, "and he had to get [Walsh's] permission to come by and pick up the money to have it taken care of." Preiss said she never spoke to Walsh about the term papers or the payments, but added that Walsh told her, "Just be silent about everything. You don't know anything. Do you understand? We have to stick together."

In a Nov. 21, 2002, telephone interview from Italy, where he plays professionally, Roberson said no one wrote papers for him. "If anything, Katie typed some." Interviewed Jan. 10, 2003, Roberson denied saying anyone typed papers for him. He said Felten helped him "design" papers. "She helped me put papers together like a tutor is supposed to do. ... She was with me when I typed them."

Bailey, the former manager, said Roberson told him in the player's campus apartment during the 1999-2000 academic year that Felten had written a paper for him. Bailey also said two people associated with the program told him that players were having work done for them.

Bailey and another manager filed a civil lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court in spring 2002 against Tarkanian, Fresno State and 25 other unnamed individuals for more than $10 million, claiming intentional racial discrimination, harassment and emotional distress. They contend they were "singled out" and fired for objecting to the "lawlessness and criminality in the operation of the program."

Roberson declined to look at the papers Mintz provided to The Bee. Asked how The Bee could have obtained copies of six pieces of course work bearing his name, Roberson said: "I don't know ... Well, if you have the papers, why are you asking me about it? If he is saying he did any work for me, he is lying.

"I don't care about Fresno State, The Fresno Bee or anything in Fresno. ... I don't need to be the good guy. I don't care what people think. I'll never see them again. I'll probably never go there again. I couldn't give a damn about Fresno State people."

Mintz completed three pieces of course work for Roberson on Feb. 15, 2000, according to a computer examination of the disk. Felten's Fresno State cell phone records reveal that she called Mintz's home number at 8:39 p.m. on Feb. 15. At 8:40 p.m., Felten called the number The Bee used to reach Roberson during the 1999-2000 season.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 16, according to a computer examination of the disk, Mintz completed two more assignments for Roberson's Social Stratification course: a review of an article on Jim Crow at 1:23 a.m. and the final exam at 2:20 a.m.

Roberson confirmed that he majored in sociology and said he is close to finishing his degree. He said he remembered taking at least one "online course" during his college career, but didn't remember the course or the college.

Mintz said he met Roberson once at a Fresno State practice because a front cover sheet and second page for the course had to be signed by Roberson. Mintz said Roberson signed them in front of him, an allegation Roberson denies.

Mintz said he received at least one payment for Roberson's papers in cash from Felten. Mintz said Roberson thanked him for doing the work, an allegation Roberson denies. Roberson said he had never spoken to Mintz until the March 2, 2002, home game against Hawaii.

At the game, Roberson said, he had heard that Mintz had told a reporter he had written papers for Roberson. Roberson said he asked Mintz, "Why are you talking s--- about me?"

Mintz remembers the question differently, saying Roberson asked, "Why did you rat me out?"

Mintz said he did work for Alexander's two correspondence courses from the University of Southern Colorado.

The Bee confirmed in spring of 2002 through an e-mail with a University of Southern Colorado staff member that Alexander was enrolled in the Marriage and Family Relationships course in early 2000.

Alexander was shown copies of several term papers bearing his name after the New Orleans Hornets practiced Oct. 28, 2002. Alexander, who led the nation in scoring during the 1999-2000 season at Fresno State, refused to acknowledge whether he had written the papers. Alexander said he does not know who Mintz is and that neither Mintz nor anyone else ever had written a term paper for him.

"You came all the way from Fresno to ask me about term papers?" Alexander asked. "I have no comment. ... Write whatever you need to write."

Mintz said he was paid on two occasions for work he did for Alexander's Social Stratification course. Mintz said he initially had to "keep chasing Alexander" before he tracked him down and finally got his payment. Alexander walked out of his house, Mintz said, and gave him $200 in cash. The second time, Mintz said, he went in the house and was paid "a few hundred dollars."

For the Marriage and Family Relationships course, Mintz said he did all of the work at once and turned it in on one day. A computer examination of the work reveals that a critique of an article on family values was completed March 7, 2000, and the two others, as well as the final exam, were completed March 9.

Felten's Fresno State cell phone records reveal that four calls were made to Mintz's home number between January and March 2000. Each call, according to a computer examination of the disk, was made on a day that Mintz completed at least one paper.

On Feb. 8, 2000, Felten called Mintz at 3:51 p.m., 49 minutes after Mintz completed the first of three Social Stratification assignments he wrote for Alexander that day. That night, Felten called Mintz at 9:50 p.m., 39 minutes after Mintz completed Alexander's Social Stratification final exam, the last of the three assignments he completed that day.

On Feb. 11, 2000, Felten called the University of Southern Colorado's continuing Education Division, three days after Mintz, according to a computer examination of the disk, completed Alexander's Social Stratification final exam, the last of six assignments Mintz wrote for that course.

Mintz said he received one payment of $500 in cash for the work he completed for the Marriage and Family Relationships course. Mintz said he met Alexander near Alexander's car in the Selland Arena parking lot after a late-season practice.

Question No. 4 in the Marriage and Family Relationships final exam Mintz said he wrote consists of terms to define, including some, such as "latchkey kid," that are highlighted in the current course textbook as relevant terms for the course.

Mintz said he met Alexander at a practice for information on the Fresno State course. That was when Alexander introduced Mintz to another college student who, Mintz said, had all of the course information for Alexander.

"This kid had everything -- Courtney's books, paper assignments, syllabus," Mintz said. "I met with this kid for about 30 minutes, as he explained to me what the other papers were like, what the preference was of the professor to write them, how he wanted them turned in. Some professors like different presentations."

Mintz, a freelance Fresno film and video director, was an associate producer for "Between the Madness"; sports editor for the now-defunct Fresno Weekly; and a Fresno State basketball statistician for more than a decade. Mintz also referees high school basketball games.

Mintz wrote one story for the Fresno Weekly during the 2000-01 season titled "The Shark and Bones Society: Too Many Secrets." It was a satirical look into how he thought The Bee's sportswriters covered Tarkanian and covered up "secrets" to maintain their relationship with the coach.

Mintz also has been a frequent contributor to the online sports message board on Fresno State athletics, called "The Bark Board."

Fresno State assistant athletic director Steve Weakland said Saturday that Mintz had filed two lawsuits against the university in the mid-1990s, but could not provide specifics on the cases.

Fresno Municipal Court records show Mintz and longtime friend and roommate Kevin Ferris were plaintiffs against Bohl, then-associate athletic director Diane Milutinovich and the Fresno State Athletic Corp. in a lawsuit filed Feb. 3, 1999. The records show the case moved to Fresno Municipal Court Small Claims on March 31, 1999, with only the athletic corporation as a defendant.

Mintz and Ferris were certified high school officials who worked as fill-in referees for one Fresno State women's basketball game. Mintz said he and Ferris filed the action because they believed they had been paid less for the game than WAC referees. He said the disputed amount was $350 each and that the university eventually won the case on appeal. After the lawsuit, Mintz was terminated as a statistician for the men's basketball program.

Mintz remained close to the men's basketball program after the Fox documentary. He did player interviews for local radio and often got press passes to home games. He said he attended practices frequently, remained close with Felten and often "hung around" her Fresno State office.

Mintz said he became close to former Fresno State player Larry Abney and his girlfriend, Elisa Flores, during the 1997-98 season. Mintz said Abney asked him to help him with a term paper and that Mintz assumed that meant for him to write it for Abney.

Mintz said he wrote a paper for Abney on Ebonics, a nonstandard variety of English spoken by some African-Americans.

"He hated it. He thought it was stupid," Mintz said. Abney and Mintz then met, Mintz said, and the two used Abney's ideas to help Abney "write a better paper."

"I never did any of the work or typed any of the work," said Mintz, who added that he was not paid to help Abney. "I knew he didn't use the paper I wrote because we helped create the paper he did use."

Abney, interviewed in a locker room in Huntsville, Ala., in December when his National Basketball Developmental League Asheville (N.C.) Altitude played a road game, confirmed that Mintz gave him a term paper and that he did not use it, instead writing his own.

He said he would not cooperate with questions that involved potential NCAA violations because penalties could hurt "future generations" of student-athletes at Fresno State. Abney, pointing to the recent Michigan scandal that involved money from boosters, said he did not want to hurt innocent players.

After a mid-December hearing before the NCAA infractions committee in Indianapolis, Fresno State took a proactive step and self-imposed sanctions that include two years of probation for the men's basketball program and athletics department, and the loss of three men's basketball scholarships between 2004 and 2006.

By announcing self-imposed penalties, the school hoped to send a message to the infractions committee that it takes responsibility for the violations that include the following: men's basketball players accepting free food from a Fresno restaurant; Roberson accepting cash from Cebrun, a representative of the sports agency Big Time Sports; two initial eligibility violations (one men's basketball player, one men's soccer player); and a lack of institutional control, which historically has been one of the most serious charges the NCAA can make.

Roberson and Tito Maddox admitted to The Bee in November that they accepted money and other extra benefits from representatives of two Las Vegas-based sports agencies during their respective playing careers. Maddox admitted receiving an estimated $30,000 from a relative of sports agent Ron Delpit, then president of Franchise Sports. Roberson admitted accepting several hundred dollars from Cebrun, then an associate of Big Time Sports.

The NCAA's enforcement staff, according to a source close to the situation, argued during December's infractions committee hearing that Cebrun was a representative of Fresno State's interests, a contention that would yield stiffer penalties against the Bulldogs in the Roberson case if affirmed by the infractions committee. Both Fresno State and some members of the 10-member infractions committee, the source said, took exception to the argument that Cebrun was a representative of the university.

The NCAA will issue its ruling in early spring and will either rubber-stamp the self-imposed sanctions or apply stiffer penalties. First-year Bulldogs coach Ray Lopes said in December that he did not anticipate the NCAA imposing a postseason ban.

Tarkanian, who steered Fresno State to two NCAA Tournament appearances during his seven-year tenure at his alma mater, repeatedly said during his final season that no major violations would be uncovered and that he ran one of "the cleanest programs in the country."

In December 2001, Tarkanian warned a Bee reporter that if the reporter were trying to "dig up a story on academic fraud" he no longer would be welcome around the program nor permitted to call Tarkanian on his cell phone.

Tarkanian has said he never has met Walsh, the Las Vegas-based sports agent. But former UNLV player John Flowers, whom Tarkanian calls "one of his favorite former players," said he introduced Tarkanian to Walsh in the television room of the Fresno State men's basketball office before a game late in the 1999-2000 season. Cebrun confirmed that they all were in the television room before a game.

Flowers, along with Walsh, attended both the Southern Methodist and Hawaii games at Selland Arena during the 1999-2000 season, according to ticket pass list records that show the names of Walsh and Flowers with their signatures.

"I don't think I told [Tarkanian] he was an agent," said Flowers, who was the agent's liaison with players. "I think I told him Walsh was a friend from Las Vegas ... We talked for about 5-10 minutes."

Cebrun had been a longtime confidant of Tarkanian's, dating to Tarkanian's coaching days at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. On occasion, Cebrun still wears a UNLV championship ring he purchased after the Rebels won the 1990 national championship.

According to several sources close to the 1999-2000 Fresno State team, Cebrun attended several home and road games that season. Roberson and another source confirmed Cebrun's account that the street agent occasionally rode the team bus on road trips.

Cebrun admits he violated NCAA rules while working as a street agent for nearly a decade.

"I don't intend to do those things again," he said. "I am trying to correct the wrong I have done."

His critics, who now include Tarkanian, attack his credibility and paint him as a college sports villain who entraps student-athletes, then reports them to the NCAA.

The NCAA, however, has invited him to speak at its convention in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 19. Cebrun will speak to a subcommittee regarding agent and amateurism issues. Cebrun said he gave a two-hour presentation on agent-related issues before various university officials at an NCAA convention in the mid-1990s.

Mintz said he feels strongly that Felten did not condone academic fraud, and that she was under significant pressure to keep players eligible: "Katie's job was to do what she was told. It's not like Katie came up with the idea, 'Gee, I better graduate players to help Tark's career.' She was put in that program to get players eligible... She hated doing papers. Deep down, Katie wanted the players to do their own work. She would have loved it if she would just have been a tutor, or a baby-sitter tutor. She didn't want to do their work. But she had a job to do; she had a responsibility."