Logan Young (1940–2006) was a Memphis, Tennessee businessman and a booster for the University of Alabama football program. In 2005, Young was found guilty in federal court for charges relating to his role in a scheme to pay a high school football coach $150,000 to help recruit a player to Alabama.[1]
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Young attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, during which time he befriended legendary Alabama football coach, Bear Bryant, through his father.[2] Young inherited an Arkansas food manufacturing company[3] and owned the Memphis Showboats, a United States Football League team in the 1980s.[4]
During the 2000 season, an assistant football coach at Trezevant High School in Memphis claimed that Young had paid Lynn Lang, the Trezevant head football coach, approximately $150,000 to encourage defensive lineman Albert Means to sign with Alabama.[5] Following the investigation by the NCAA, Alabama received a five-year probation, a two-year bowl ban, and a reduced number of scholarships that the university could give out—limiting them by twenty-one scholarships over the next three years.[6]
Alabama disassociated Young from the program, banning him from involvement, stripping him of his $40,000 luxury box at Bryant-Denny Stadium and canceling an insurance policy that would have paid $500,000 toward the Paul "Bear" Bryant Museum on campus.[2]
Young was convicted in federal court on conspiracy to commit racketeering, crossing state lines to commit racketeering, and arranging bank withdrawals to cover up a crime.[3] Young's defense claimed Lang, who was also convicted of a racketeering conspiracy, was motived to testify against Young in exchange for a lighter sentence.[3] He was eventually sentenced to six months in jail, though he continued to firmly deny any wrongdoing.[7]
On April 11, 2006, Young was found dead in his home in Memphis.[4] Originally thought to be a homicide, local police concluded that Young's death was accidental.[8]
Mandel, Stewart (2007). Bowls, Polls & Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy that Reign Over College Football. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0470049170. http://books.google.com/books?id=yM7kIhmEIvUC.