UNLV Investigating New Rider Questions

Nevada Las Vegas officials are investigating whether NCAA rules were violated when the parents of basketball player J.R. Rider were given free hotel rooms on the Las Vegas Strip.

Copies of Sahara Hotel records obtained by the Las Vegas Sun disclosed that Isaiah and Donna Rider received the use of two free hotel rooms Feb. 26-28, the weekend of UNLV’s last home game, against Utah State.

The investigation follows reports that recruit Kebu Stewart received a plane ticket home to New York that also could have been an NCAA violation.

UNLV legal counsel Brad Booke charged that the air fare was paid by a medical office manager at the request of a supporter of former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian and was a setup designed to embarrass the school.

NCAA rules prohibit a university and its “athletics representatives” from providing extra benefits to friends or relatives visiting a student-athlete.