More twists in Cottonwood football home purchase case
There were more twists today in the bizarre story of former Cottonwood High linebacker Lynn Katoa's time at the suburban Salt Lake Valley school and the purchase of a home in the area that was eventually rented out to Katoa's father, Monte Katoa.
The Tribune will have a fairly detailed account of today's proceedings at the UHSAA offices in Thursday's newspaper and an identical Web site offering, but there were some things that weren't worked in to the story that seem worth sharing here.
Today's events had nothing to do with news over the weekend that Lynn Katoa had been arrested in Boulder, Colo., for allegedly assaulting a fellow student at an off-campus party. Katoa, according to a Boulder Police report, was angered when some students shot one of his teammates with a stun gun.
The biggest development today was an assertion from the founder of the new Southvalley Community School -- that's USC, by the way -- that Cottonwood High booster and assistant football coach Scott Cate really didn't ask him to buy a home in Cottonwood's boundaries.
Now, real estate developer Bob Jones is saying that he (Jones) brought up the idea of buying a home and renting it to Katoa (which he did) after Cate asked him if he knew of anyone in the area that rented out homes.
That's contrary to Jones' recorded statements in November and January meetings conducted by the UHSAA, and it will be interesting to see if the revelation Wednesday somehow keeps the colorful character from getting his ultimate wish for USC: admission into the UHSAA.
The entire board will vote on that on April 3.
Noted UHSAA attorney Mark Van Wagoner: "It appears that the impressions that came out of the Board of Trustees meeting in November were inaccurate. It appears there were misstatements that were incorrect. It appears that Mr. Cate did not ask him to buy the house, and it would have made no difference because [Lynn Katoa] was already at Cottonwood and couldn't live with his dad, due to a court order."
In other words, Jones has wasted the trustees' time, at least on this matter.
Bottom line is that Cate and Cottonwood are probably off the hook with the UHSAA and its trustees. But it did open some eyes regarding the kind of money that has floated around the Cottonwood football program that past few years.
Holy smoke!
Everyone in the room, including me, gave a collective gasp back in November when Jones blurted out the home purchase story at the same time he was telling them he offered Murray High $1 million dollars if it would let him be its football coach.
Frankly, Jones came off in those meetings as arrogant, flamboyant and a bit demanding.
Today, he was much more conciliatory, flanked by his attorney, Kevin Swenson, and USC's new principal, former Hunter and Skyline administrator Steve Marsing.
Still, Cate -- who also had an attorney present -- won the day, calmly recounting how he casually asked Jones in September of 2006 if Jones knew anybody who rented out homes in the Cottonwood area.
"Like asking someone if they knew a good car dealer or place to get a good steak," he said. "Certainly, not a request to buy someone a house."
Cate also had a little criticism for the media (this writer in particular) for not contacting him when Jones fingered him in January as the assistant coach who asked him to buy the house. In November, Jones did not name names.
Cate had a valid point. But in our defense, one wonders why he was not more pro-active in the days between Jones' November and January allegations. Certainly, he had to have heard that Jones was smearing Cottonwood's name after the November meeting.
After all, Cottonwood principal Garrett Muse and head coach Cecil Thomas showed up at the January meeting to refute Jones' claims. Where was Cate then?
The Tribune will have a fairly detailed account of today's proceedings at the UHSAA offices in Thursday's newspaper and an identical Web site offering, but there were some things that weren't worked in to the story that seem worth sharing here.
Today's events had nothing to do with news over the weekend that Lynn Katoa had been arrested in Boulder, Colo., for allegedly assaulting a fellow student at an off-campus party. Katoa, according to a Boulder Police report, was angered when some students shot one of his teammates with a stun gun.
The biggest development today was an assertion from the founder of the new Southvalley Community School -- that's USC, by the way -- that Cottonwood High booster and assistant football coach Scott Cate really didn't ask him to buy a home in Cottonwood's boundaries.
Now, real estate developer Bob Jones is saying that he (Jones) brought up the idea of buying a home and renting it to Katoa (which he did) after Cate asked him if he knew of anyone in the area that rented out homes.
That's contrary to Jones' recorded statements in November and January meetings conducted by the UHSAA, and it will be interesting to see if the revelation Wednesday somehow keeps the colorful character from getting his ultimate wish for USC: admission into the UHSAA.
The entire board will vote on that on April 3.
Noted UHSAA attorney Mark Van Wagoner: "It appears that the impressions that came out of the Board of Trustees meeting in November were inaccurate. It appears there were misstatements that were incorrect. It appears that Mr. Cate did not ask him to buy the house, and it would have made no difference because [Lynn Katoa] was already at Cottonwood and couldn't live with his dad, due to a court order."
In other words, Jones has wasted the trustees' time, at least on this matter.
Bottom line is that Cate and Cottonwood are probably off the hook with the UHSAA and its trustees. But it did open some eyes regarding the kind of money that has floated around the Cottonwood football program that past few years.
Holy smoke!
Everyone in the room, including me, gave a collective gasp back in November when Jones blurted out the home purchase story at the same time he was telling them he offered Murray High $1 million dollars if it would let him be its football coach.
Frankly, Jones came off in those meetings as arrogant, flamboyant and a bit demanding.
Today, he was much more conciliatory, flanked by his attorney, Kevin Swenson, and USC's new principal, former Hunter and Skyline administrator Steve Marsing.
Still, Cate -- who also had an attorney present -- won the day, calmly recounting how he casually asked Jones in September of 2006 if Jones knew anybody who rented out homes in the Cottonwood area.
"Like asking someone if they knew a good car dealer or place to get a good steak," he said. "Certainly, not a request to buy someone a house."
Cate also had a little criticism for the media (this writer in particular) for not contacting him when Jones fingered him in January as the assistant coach who asked him to buy the house. In November, Jones did not name names.
Cate had a valid point. But in our defense, one wonders why he was not more pro-active in the days between Jones' November and January allegations. Certainly, he had to have heard that Jones was smearing Cottonwood's name after the November meeting.
After all, Cottonwood principal Garrett Muse and head coach Cecil Thomas showed up at the January meeting to refute Jones' claims. Where was Cate then?
1 Comments:
Odd, it would seem that it would be up to the reporters to get the ENTIRE story when writing an article, not just the part that's juicy.
Your assertion that Cate should have contacted you is silly. It's not the responsibility of the person you're writing the story about to come find you, it's your responsibility as a reporter to try and get all sides of the story. Too often now the media only presents bits and pieces of the story, yet never admits that they haven't tried to present the entire thing.
At least you admitted you should have tried to contact him, although saying he should have gone on the offensive strikes me as you trying to shrug off your paper not doing it's job properly.
Post a Comment
<< Home