Michigan's athletic department contacted the NCAA following the traffic accident that occurred while Zavier Simpson was driving a vehicle registered to athletic director Warde Manuel's wife, a U-M spokesman told the Free Press on Friday.
The conversation took place after Simpson's accident on Jan. 26 and prior to Simpson's return from a one-game suspension that held him out of a Jan. 28 competition at Nebraska.
Simpson, a senior point guard and co-captain, crashed a 2011 Toyota RAV4 registered to Chrislan Manuel. The car is primarily used by Evan Manuel, son of Chrislan and Warde, and a student manager on the basketball team.
According to MLive.com, Simpson told police Evan Manuel lends to car to "several different athletes."
NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes and their family members from receiving special arrangements or benefits from university employees. It wasn't immediately clear whether Simpson's case would be deemed as a special arrangement since Evan Manuel is a student.
Kurt Svoboda, a spokesman for the athletic department, said Michigan reached out to the NCAA out of due diligence.
Simpson was suspended for a violation of team policies. Coach Juwan Howard said Friday that Simpson broke curfew (the accident took place around 3 a.m. on Jan. 26, roughly 12 hours after Michigan's loss to Illinois at Crisler Center).
Simpson initially lied to police about his identity and involvement in the crash, before admitting Wednesday he was the driver and said the car slipped on an icy road.
Simpson was cited for driving too fast for road conditions. Court records show $130 is owed on the ticket and a partial payment was made Friday.
After the crash, the police alerted Chrislan Manuel, the registered owner, and through her and Evan Manuel, were able to determine that Simpson was the driver.
Howard declined to say how much Simpson uses the 2001 Toyota RAV4 involved in the crash.
"Actually, that's personal," Howard said. "That's not something that I think is _ where it's important for me to say whose car you should drive, that's more where Zavier, as well as the person whose car he's driving, that's a personal matter between those two individuals."
