St. John’s Player Says He Was Paid

A suspended St. John’s player contended Wednesday he got $300 almost every month from a member of the team staff.

In a statement read to reporters by one of his attorneys, Abraham Keita also said he is filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the university.

“He firmly believes he was the unworthy recipient of racially disparate disciplinary treatment,” attorney Steven Spielvogel said.

Keita, who is African American, attended the news conference but did not speak. Spielvogel and two colleagues also declined to answer questions after reading the statement.

St. John’s issued a statement Wednesday night saying the school was surprised by the allegations about the payments and that it would begin an investigation. St. John’s also called the racial discrimination charge as “simply not true.”

Keita was suspended last month after he and several other players were caught breaking curfew by visiting a strip club near Pittsburgh. A woman told police she was raped by players she met at the club, but no criminal charges were filed.

The woman was later charged with prostitution, attempted extortion and filing fictitious reports.

Keita, a senior center from West Africa, was aware the payments violated NCAA rules. But his lawyers indicated that because he came from an impoverished background, he was “extraordinarily vulnerable and susceptible to accepting NCAA-prohibited cash from the university.”

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