This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Having been suspended for five games by BYU last week due to an honor code violation, linebacker Spencer Hadley detailed his transgressions to Sports Illustrated writer Jeff Benedict over the weekend. Benedict's report, which begins with a description of how Hadley joined the team last Friday when it went to the state prison in Draper to present a fireside to inmates, is now online and can be found here. The article recaps the events that unfolded last week after coach Bronco Mendenhall announced that Hadley had been suspended indefinitely and how the school hours later acknowledged it was for an honor code violation and the suspension would last five games.
As the Tribune first reported last week after securing documents and a photo from the University of Utah via a GRAMA request, an e-mailer who referred to himself as "Darren Lucy" and a "die hard Utah Utes fan" alerted compliance officials at BYU's rival, the University of Utah, of Hadley's partying at a Las Vegas club.
Benedict's article confirms that the photo of Hadley partying at a club in Las Vegas is indeed authentic (the Tribune could not verify that when it published its report last week), and confrms the e-mailer's charge that Hadley went to Las Vegas during the weekend that BYU had a bye.
Hadley denied taking extra benefits, which was another of the e-mailer's allegations. Apparently, BYU's investigation cleared the player of what would have been major NCAA violations, according to the SI article.
Hadley does acknowledge drinking alcohol and partying on several occasions in Las Vegas, which is a violation of the honor code. Benedict reports that the so-called BYU booster, Jacob Stocking, is really not a BYU booster (according to BYU), and has never attended a BYU football game.
Rather, Stocking grew up in the same small Washington town as Hadley (Connell) and is a family friend. The Tribune has learned that Stocking graduated from Connell High in 2001, seven years before Hadley graduated from that same school.
Another interesting revelation: Benedict notes in his article that Utah compliance officer Kate Charipar actually called her counterpart at BYU, Chad Gwilliam, before forwarding the e-mail that would lead to Hadley's suspension. Like Sports Illustrated, the Tribune has been unable to track down Darren Lucy, or even verify that such a person exists, let alone whether that person is truly a Utah fan. Anyway, check out Benedict's article, which provides even more context into what was one of the more memorable rivalry weeks in recent memory.