After last month’s firing of the men’s tennis coaching staff for serious violations of University and NCAA policies, Athletic Director Cheryl Levick says the school will continue to practice its existing system of recruiting and evaluating coaches.
Men’s tennis Head Coach Joerg Barthel and Assistant Coach Cesar Vargas were dismissed in March after an internal investigation leveled allegations of gambling, alcohol use with student athletes and taking personal trips on University money.
Levick sent several statements via email to The Signal regarding the numerous NCAA and Georgia State Athletics violations against former men’s tennis Head Coach Joerg Barthel and Assistant Coach Cesar Vargas that led to their dismissals last month.
“The dismissal of both coaches was a result of a combination of violations of NCAA and University policies,” Levick said, citing the violations that led to their dismissal––but not specifying which was the tipping point.
Levick said the alleged violations first came to her attention on March 10 when Vargas raised concerns with Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance Erik Paz and Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director Jamie Boggs who immediately informed her.
Levick also said they found no background of gambling issues when vetting Barthel before hiring him on July 19, 2012.
However, Vargas said in his statement to Athletics in response to his alleged violations that Barthel was heavily reprimanded when he was an assistant tennis coach at Nebraska for gambling with student athletes.
When asked how Athletics will ensure hiring coaches and staff that won’t put in jeopardy the safety of student athletes, Levick said, “We will continue to be proactive and due diligent in our hiring practices. We realize the importance of hiring talented coaches with high integrity. This was a case of a very talented coach making poor personal choices that bled into his professional life. Ultimately, he lost his job because of it.”
Women’s tennis Head Coach Robin Stephenson was named frequently in the Athletic’s Department’s investigation, especially in sections about a suspicious trip Barthel took to Europe in which he met up with Stephenson. However, Stephenson was not desmissed, and became interim head coach of the men’s tennis team following Barthel’s dismissal.
“Robin Stephenson was not found to be in violation of any NCAA or University rules,” Levick said on why Stephenson was not dismissed following the investigation. “Through our standard process, she will be evaluated at the conclusion of the tennis season.”
Barthel’s dismissal was announced April 1 by Georgia State Athletics for “personnel reasons.” Records received by The Signal revealed a much more complicated story.
According to records obtained by The Signal from an internal investigation by Georgia State Athletics, Barthel was notified on March 11 of allegations against him that violated University Department politics as well as NCAA rules.
The offenses first dated back to April 2013 and included allegations of making players sleep on hotel floors, engaging in gambling, borrowing money from student athletes and their families, going on personal trips on Georgia State University’s money and not giving players a mandatory day off in February.
Barthel believed these accusations to be from his assistant coach, Cesar Vargas, in his statement in response to the alleged
violations Georgia State Athletics presented to him because of several issues the two coaches have been having with each other and their trust.
Barthel alleged Vargas of similar violations.
Vargas’s official list of alleged violations included gambling on golf with enrolled student-athletes, permitting student-athletes to stay at his residence to and in-between terms, and numerous recruiting phone calls without proper documentation.
Cesar Vargas, former men’s tennis assistant coach, was dismissed along with along with former Head Coach Joerg Barthel in March.
Vargas was fired on March 27 for the alleged violations.
However, he said he was unaware some of his action were violations and were made under the direction of Barthel.
Both coaches’ terminations were officially announced on April 1, 2014, in a press release by Georgia State Athletics.
Athletics called the violations “minor” in the announcement.
In an email from Vargas to Assistant Athletic Director Jamie Boggs on March 28, Vargas said he would be meeting with Athletic Director Cheryl Levick for an appeal.
“The Director of Athletics investigated and took immediate action when the allegations were brought forward. The situation was handled appropriately and there was no violation of [Levick’s] contract,” Georgia State spokesperson Andrea Jones said as a statement in response to the violations and if the situation violated Levick’s contract.
Accusations of gambling top the list
Arguably, one of the more serious violations against both coaches was allegedly engaging in gambling activity.
Barthel was said to have gambled on professional sports. In addition, Barthel is alleged to have borrowed money from at least two Georgia State men’s tennis players and/or their families for the purposes of gambling.
In notes taken during a meeting between Barthel and Boggs about the violations, Boggs asked about gambling, and Barthel was noted as saying he gambled “occasionally here and there.” He also said he was unaware of it being a violation.
In his statement to Athletics in response the violations claimed against him, Barthel denied gambling saying he was unemployed by Georgia State and left the country to travel to Germany fall 2012.
He said he played mini court tennis with a friend, Christopher Hill, on the conditions that the loser buy dinner and bet $20 on the Falcons winning their NFL game that night. That same example was documented in the notes between Barthel and Boggs.
In his response, Barthel also denied borrowing money from student-athletes or their families for gambling. He said he occasionally borrowed gas money, but payed everyone back immediately.
In a later email to Boggs, Barthel accused Vargas of driving a rental car with student athletes to the Hard Rock Casino in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to play poker until after midnight. Barthel said both Vargas and players gambled.
In response to allegations of going to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino with student athletes, Vargas said he did not drive the vehicle and that it was driven by Barthel. He added the trip was “premeditated and completely orchestrated by Coach Barthel.”
Vargas called Barthel an “avid gambler and poker player, and thus he wanted to travel to [the] casino in order to engage in these activities.”
He added that Barthel was reprimanded for engaging in illicit gambling activities with several members of the Nebraska men’s tennis program as an assistant coach there before coming to Georgia State.
Vargas said Barthel lost more than $1,500 to a former player who was a student athlete at the time, but transferred to another college.
Vargas said he played and lost $200 worth of chips that he withdrew from his personal checking account in less than an hour.
On the allegations of gambling on golf, Vargas said he played golf with student athletes on multiple occasions, but denied gambling anything of “tangible value.”
Team trips involving alcohol
Barthel accused Vargas of drinking while on trips with the team on numerous occasions adding creating multiple situations with student athletes” talking openly about girls, drinking and partying.”
Vargas did admit so drinking, but turned most of it around on Barthel.
Vargas said he believed Barthel to be intoxicated before driving a team bus to the airport in Los Angeles after the two had been at a pub.
Vargas said he suggested one of the athletes to drive, but Barthel said he was fine and did not want one of the athletes to drive because then they would think he was drunk, according to Vargas. Barthel then drove the bus to the airport.
Vargas denied drinking with student athletes while housing them. He said one of the student athletes had brought his own alcoholic beverages to the apartment, but Vargas denied drinking with the athlete.
In an interview between Boggs and Vargas during the investigation, Vargas was noted as saying he had “lapses in judgement” and admitted he should have come forward sooner.
Athletes sleeping on Vargas’ floor
According to notes from an interview with Vargas and Boggs that reviewed the allegations against him, Cesar confirmed that he did allow athletes to spend the night at his residence on multiple occasions at the direction of Barthel.
In his official statement on the alleged violations to Georgia State, Vargas said he had an argument with Barthel in which he expressed “discontent for having to host-student athletes” at his residence. Vargas said Barthel dismissed the conversation, saying he had no choice if they wanted to stay within the budget. Vargas said Barthel gave no indication housing the athletes was a violation.
Vargas said he arranged for the student athlete to house with another athlete, and admitted he knew this was a violation, but at least the athlete would be “accommodated adequately rather than having to sleep on [the] apartment’s floor.”
Vargas said he went as far as contacting Nick Giancola, residence hall director for Piedmont North, an on-campus dorm for Georgia State, to set up a residency for the student athlete.
Personal trips on university money
Other violations included going on a “personal trip” to Europe with Robin Stephenson, the assistant women’s tennis coach at that time and now head coach of the team, while acting as interim head coach of the men’s tennis team.
Barthel denied using University money for personal trips, and said he stays at his family home in Europe to save budget money. Barthel said he has never made secret of this fact.
Barthel said he met with Stephenson one time in Europe when she was out recruiting on her own. The two met coaching contacts and traveled to a tournament, according to Barthel.
Barthel said he speaks several European languages and thus was able to help Stephenson with her recruiting and travel.
Stephenson was hospitalized during her trip, and Barthel said he was able to help and speak the language. The records do not indicate the reason for the hospital visit.
Vargas emailed several Facebook messages from Barthel to Boggs in an email. Vargas said the messages showed instances in which he had to cover for Barthel.
The messages reveal Barthel saying he is with “Robin” all week instead of recruiting for the weekend. The two went on to discuss their cover stories in the messages as to say when certain pictures were taken so they are not caught.
Barthel accused Vargas of using “state funds for a personal trips to Mexico…and Europe…while claiming to have been recruiting.”
Varags admitted to the reimbursements for trips, but said he did it under the direction of Barthel as a “form of ‘bonus’ for his performance.” He added that he had more than enough evidence to show he was in fact recruiting on the trip. He provided Facebook messages to players he recited while in Mexico City that explained interest in the players he was contacting.
Vargas said in his trip to Europe this past fall, he never received reimbursement even though he was recruiting players on the trip, even though it was intended to be a personal trip.
Personal issues cause Barthel to be absent
The Signal received several text messages and Facebook messages between Barthel and Vargas in which Barthel continued to say he would not be at practices because of not feeling well and other personal issues.
On several occasions, Barthel told Cesar he could not come in because he cannot see Robin. It is unclear if he is talking about Robin Stephenson, the women’s head coach, or someone else according to the message. Later messages again bring up apparent personal problems between Barthel and Robin. Barthel even trusts telling Vargas that he hurt himself after struggling emotionally. He does not elaborate on what he did to himself.
There are several messages where Barthel appears to be emotionally unstable, and Vargas repeatedly said he will not give validation for Barthel not coming in but does support him.
Vargas said in a later Facebook message that Barthel is putting him in a “tough spot” by missing so many practices, adding he should tell the team what is going on because they have questions.
Vargas continually says throughout the records and messages that he has to pick up slack repeatedly because of Barthel not holding up commitments or creating unprofessional situations.
Other messages include Barthel saying he has hit “rock bottom” and left town to Mississippi visit friends and drink. This happened over the course of the team’s trip to Elon in which Vargas had to take over much of the slack, according to the records.
Following the trip, Barthel asks Vargas to cover for him a little longer and to tell Robin he does not know where he is, but says to everyone else that he will be back the next Wednesday.
The messages progressively show Vargas getting more and more frustrated with Barthel continuing to take time off and covering for him.
Other NCAA violations
The list of violations against Barthel said he required athletic-related activity from Feb. 16-22 without providing a mandatory-day off but submitted a false log that said the athletes were provided with a day off.
Barthel denied all of the violations against him except for not giving players their mandatory day off in February, saying he “simply overlooked it with the time pressure of having to turn it in and planning [the] match at Georgia Tech.” Barthel’s signature is on the log.
Forms filled out by the student athletes on athletically related activity for that week all indicated the team practiced or worked out every day that week including February 22, the day Barthel signed off as the players’ day off.
In an email from Vargas to Boggs, Vargas said he notified Barthel of the issue, but his response was “It’s fine, At the end of the day, I’m the one who signs those logs,” according to Vargas.
Vargas said he was instructed to change the log to say the team did not practice on February 22 to indicate a day off.
Violations against Barthel included numerous recruiting phone calls without proper documentation.
Vargas said he has only spoken to three individuals with the purposes of recruiting. He said Barthel told him calls to recruits via Skype did not have to be properly documented on the call logs because the call was not made from the office.
“Personnel issues”
In his personal statement on the situation, Barthel said he had reason to believe the alleged violations against him came from Vargas.
He said Vargas is not well liked around the department, “especially by the ones working closely to him.”
Barthel said he had plans to make immediate coaching changes upon completion of the season, and he speculated Vargas may had found out.
He said Vargas believes himself to be the “main engine” towards the program’s success even after one year of coaching experience and said he had tried go overturn decisions and go around his back on multiple occasions.
Barthel said he had problems with Vargas in the past breaking team rules, including taking players out past curfew without his knowledge, citing a time he took players out until midnight to a beach in Los Angeles.
“Mr. Vargas is not trustworthy towards the program,” Barthel said. “I believe it is his intention to become head coach for the men’s tennis team and he would do and present whatever he feels will help him achieve his individual goal.”
Barthel said he hired Vargas as an assistant coach despite that he had no experience working in a college environment. After developing what he thought was a trustworthy relationship, Barthel thought Vargas would be a good fit for his coaching style.
He added that Vargas became upset after Stephenson was promoted to the associate head coach position for the women’s tennis program. He said Vargas was “very angry at the fact that I did not ask for the same position in his case.
Barthel said he explained his one year of coaching experience was not long enough to ask for Vargas to be promoted.
Vargas did not discuss this in his statement, but did call Barthel an “avid gambler and poker player” even going as far as to call him an addict when it came to drinking and alcohol.
Outside statements
Georgia State Athletics had several records of statements in regards to some of the claims against Barthel and Vargas.
Kurt Clemmons, an assistant women’s tennis coach, said after a compliance meeting, she summarized the information of the meeting to Barthel after he was not in attendance.
“My summary was that coaches are not permitted to bet on sports that are sponsored by the NCAA. [Barthel] made a comment indicating that he does bet on sports,” Clemmons said.
She added she was not sure if he was joking or serious.
Women’s Head Coach Robin Stephenson also said Barthel made a couple of comments about betting on collegiate and professional sports, particularly about losing a bet on the Atlanta Falcons.
Stephenson also said she had witnessed Barthel drinking beer at a team meal, but was unaware how much beer he had.
Miha Lisac, former Georgia State tennis player and assistant head coach and how head coach at West Virginia University, said during a trip for Sun Belt meetings, several of the coaches went out for drinks and went to Harrah’s Casino.
He left about 3 a.m. to sleep before the next meetings in the morning, and was sharing a room with Barthel.
He said he believed Barthel to come back to the room at 7 a.m. straight from the casino without any sleep. He did not know when Barthel’s last drink of the night had been or if he was intoxicated that morning.
Great job with this, but former women’s coach, Miha Lisac is a man…