UNLV to Reopen Rider Inquiry

Officials at Nevada Las Vegas agreed to further investigate reports that an instructor was pressured into giving J.R. Rider, the nation’s second-leading scorer at 29.2 points per game, a passing grade that made him eligible for the season.

The investigation will also examine why Rider, a senior athletically, was taking a freshman English correspondence course and received credit for a course on understanding and preventing premenstrual syndrome, university Regent Shelley Berkley said.

Berkley said university Chancellor Mark Dawson agreed Monday to her request for the investigation, the results of which will be given to regents April 8. Berkley said UNLV President Robert Maxson will direct the investigation, spurred by reports last week in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

University officials had said last week that they were satisfied that Rider was eligible to continue playing for the Runnin’ Rebels, who will play USC on Wednesday in the NIT. Berkley, however, said the university did not investigate the situation fully.

Vicki Bertolino, who taught a community college correspondence course taken by Rider, said last week she was pressured by two persons in the athletic department to give Rider a “C” grade even though he had not completed his course work. The grade put Rider over the 24-unit annual minimum needed to become eligible.

Bertolino also questioned whether Rider did his own work on a paper for the course. The Review-Journal published copies of the paper on Sunday, which showed different handwriting styles on the two pages and which had Rider’s first name, Isaiah, misspelled.