Ex UT-Austin Tennis Coach Pleads Guilty In Admissions Scandal

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The former coach of men's tennis at the University of Texas at Austin pleaded guilty in connection to a national college admissions scandal, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Monday.

Michael Center, 54, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, the DOJ reported. In effect, the guilty plea is tantamount to admission of having accepted $60,000 from the founder of a college prep service in exchange for securing admission into UT-Austin as a tennis recruit. The unidentified student in question hails from California, and reportedly does not play tennis.

DOJ officials said Center also accepted $40,000 for the Longhorns tennis program as part of the scheme. Formerly head of men's tennis for which he helped deliver 18 winning seasons each year he worked at UT, Center was fired from the school just one day after being arrested last month.

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Felicity Huffman, 13 Others Admit To College Admissions Fraud

Many of the nation's top schools have been targeted as part of the wide-ranging college admissions scandal, which centers on fraudulent methods used to ensure admissions into various university. Actress Felicity Huffman (of "Desperate Housewives" fame) was among the most high-profile people to have been charged. Also on Monday, the actress pleaded guilty to charges lodged against her while issuing a statement of contrition.

The scandal has led to considerable outcry by those less fortunate in securing admission to some of the country's most elite schools, buttressing suspicions that some have an unfair advantage in the process. As Patch reported on April 4, the national non-profit group Government Crime Stoppers (GCS) recently posted fliers at homes surrounding the UT-Austin campus offering $10,000 rewards for information leading to arrests of even more people found to have cheated on the admissions process at the local university.

"To restore integrity in the admissions process and avoid the potential loss of federal student loans and Pell grants, cheating must be stopped," GCS officials wrote while soliciting tips. "If you have information that could lead to the arrest of a faculty member, administrator parent, student or public official, submit an anonymous tip now at GovernmentCrimeStoppers.org to be eligible for a reward."

To see the DOJ's updated list of defendants in the admissions fraud case, click here.

Fliers like this one were distributed to homes near the UT-Austin campus in the wake of the college admissions scandal. Photo by Tony Cantú/Patch staff.

Also charged in the admissions scandal is a defendant named Gregory Abbott, the same name as the Texas governor. Patch looked into the matter and learned it's not the same man. The Abbott who was charged is being defended by a high-profile lawyer in New York City, and his wife (also charged) is Marcia Abbott, while the name of the Texas First Lady is Cecilia.

The son of those other Abbotts gained a measure of notoriety after posting a video of himself defending his parents after they were accused of paying $125,000 to boost their daughter's SAT and ACT scores as part of the scheme. An aspiring rapper, Malcolm Abbott defended his parents while smoking a blunt outside his parents' swanky Manhattan apartment, as the Insider and other media outlets reported. The would-be-rapper told the New York Post the scandal had been blown out of proportion as he blew out smoke from his marijuana joint.

For his part, the Insider reported, Malcolm Abbott passed on attending college to pursue rap music. Artistically, he goes by the rap name "Billa."