In an interview taped for an HBO Real Sports segment that airs Monday night at 10, Amare Stoudemire's mother, Carrie, says she received money from George Raveling, a notable Nike representative.

"I like George. . . . He helped me a little bit," she said. "He sent me a little money to survive. He said he did it out of the kindness of his heart."

That could be an

NCAA violation because amateurism rules prohibit athletes from receiving gifts or payments based on their potential for future payback.

A Nike spokesman said Raveling -- the former head coach at Washington State, Iowa and Southern California -- is headed to Barcelona for a camp hosted by the company and Vince Carter. Messages left for him at his Los Angeles home and his L.A. office weren't returned Friday.

Late Thursday afternoon, Carrie Stoudemire answered the phone in her Orlando hotel room, where she has been living since she was released from a Polk County jail in April. When asked if Amare was available, she said, "No," and hung up. Afterward, her phone was forwarded to a message center.

Amare Stoudemire -- a 6-foot-10, 240-pounder considered the nation's top prospect in the 2002 senior class -- has been caught in the crossfire between rival sneaker companies after he jumped from an adidas-sponsored summer-league team to attend the Nike camp.

Stoudemire also has what had been his circle of advisers sniping at each other. A bond with Travis King, his former summer-league coach, has been broken. Instead, the Rev. Bill Williams, a prison-bound Orlando minister and construction contractor, and Jacksonville-based public-relations agent Marc Little seem to be the ones calling the shots now.

In other developments:

* Little has become a big part of the story. After he passed out packets that included his business card to reporters at the Nike Camp, the NCAA decided to look at whether Little's work for Stoudemire is an extra benefit that violates amateurism rules.

* An oral commitment Stoudemire made with the University of Memphis is falling apart. Stoudemire isn't talking to the media in the aftermath of the flap at Indianapolis, but Little said the pledge to Memphis is off and Stoudemire will take recruiting visits to other schools. Little wouldn't name the schools.

* Williams, who testified in Florida High School Activities Association eligibility hearings that he is Stoudemire's legal guardian, faces his fourth prison term -- a 41-month sentence for bribery -- next month.

* Williams' record adds to the stack of rap sheets around Stoudemire. His 24-year-old brother, Hazell Stoudemire Jr., who started alongside Peter Warrick on Bradenton Southeast's 35-0 state title basketball team in 1995, is serving three to nine years in a New York state prison on charges of criminal sale of a controlled substance and sexual abuse. Carrie Stoudemire is on probation following her April release.

Breaking away

Stoudemire had lived with King since last summer, but Little said Wednesday that Amare is through with King and his adidas-sponsored summer team, and instead will live with his mother and 13-year-old brother, Marwan.

"Amare's mom has secured an apartment in the [Cypress Creek] district, and he'll be living with her," Little said.

In the HBO interview, Carrie Stoudemire said Raveling told her, "You got to get rid of Travis."

"This thing is just so crazy," King said. "The kid was going to class, making good grades, not getting into trouble, seeing his mother daily, seeing his brother daily. I thought it was all pretty positive, as stable as it could be."

But rarely have the words "stability" and "Stoudemire" fit into the same conversation. His father died in 1994 when Amare was 11. His mother has been arrested 23 times since 1974. But since Stoudemire transferred from West Orange High to Cypress Creek in March, there had been relative calm.

"All these accusations flying around now are absolutely sour grapes from Travis King over Amare not going to adidas last week," said Little, who has coached Stoudemire through media interviews since December. "It's ironic that I go to Nike, and all of a sudden there's an issue here."

King said the blame should fall on Williams. His son, J.R. Williams, was a backup guard at West Orange last year, yet landed a spot at the nationally prestigious 190-player Nike camp. J.R. Williams transferred to Cypress Creek along with Stoudemire.

"I've taken all the hits for supposedly trying to ride the gravy train with this kid, but the thing people are going to end up seeing is that if I was getting this and that, Amare would be with me and the mom would be with me," King said. "Rev. Williams fooled me. He dressed it up to me that he got caught up in somebody else's problem, got back-stabbed and did one jail term.

"Everybody makes mistakes. But you don't make 13 mistakes. I had my confidence in him. I guess I learned the hard way."

Last season King coached Stoudemire on a team sponsored by Nike.

Williams headed back to jail

As for Williams, Stoudemire and Little have said they were unaware until last week about Williams' lengthy criminal record.

Williams' record includes three previous prison sentences: for loan fraud of an Orlando bank, grand theft from Bethune-Cookman College and defrauding a group of Cleveland investors.

In an April trial in which he was convicted of bribing a former Tampa Housing Authority director in exchange for contracts for his construction company, Williams said he had been arrested 13 times in three states between 1969 and 1995.

Messages left at Williams' Orlando home were returned by Little.

"He's not going to talk about it," said Little, who also said he has known Williams since 1988.

One question is how an entourage that included Little, Williams and Cypress Creek Coach Earl Barnett got to the Nike camp. Little, who has said he is helping Stoudemire at no charge, said he took care of his own expenses.

When asked Thursday who paid for his airline ticket, Barnett asked to have 20 minutes to confer with others. Little later called on behalf of Barnett to answer the question.

"He paid for his own ticket and stayed with me in the hotel room I paid for," Little said. "I don't know who paid for Rev. Williams' ticket. He did not travel with us. I assume he paid for his own ticket."

Barnett did not return subsequent calls.

Stoudemire's situation drives home a point that critics of summer basketball bring up repeatedly: Teenage players can be mere pawns in adult games.

In an interview with the Sentinel last week, Stoudemire said he wanted to go to the Nike camp to prove himself against elite prospects he had not or would not see on the adidas tour -- including Shavlik Randolph, a 6-10 forward from Raleigh, N.C., who is regarded by some as his equal.

"Amare made the decision based on competition -- nothing beyond that," Little said. "And it will show as the various national ratings roll out that he made the right decision. He was matched up three times with Randolph, and all three times he absolutely ate him up."

Evans' Baker in middle

A source close to the situation told the Sentinel that Williams called a Nike representative and secured spots in the Nike camp for his son, Stoudemire and Evans' Yusuf Baker.

Associates of King accuse Raveling and other Nike "agents" of hooking up with Williams and Carrie Stoudemire to pull Amare Stoudemire and Baker away from the Adidas Fastbreak team.

Little acknowledged in April that at least one Nike-sponsored team had contacted Carrie Stoudemire in an effort to land her son.

Baker said his break from King and adidas was engineered by Williams and Raveling. Asked who paid for his airfare to the Indianapolis event, Baker said he wasn't sure.

"I think it was Nike. I had talked to Raveling, and he told me I was going to be able to be there," Baker said. "I just hooked up with Rev. Williams, and he was our escort to the Nike Camp.

"It was nothing against Travis King. I just wanted to go to the Nike Camp. That's my last camp for the summer. I'm just going to chill out and get ready for my high school season."

Friday, an NCAA spokeswoman said sponsors of approved events are permitted to pay "reasonable and usual expenses" for participants.

Eligibility in question

Little, 49, is a former Jacksonville radio and TV personality who ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican against Corrine Brown in 1994.

"I know people continue to laugh at this, but I genuinely like the kid and I'm doing this at no obligation," Little said. "There is no agreement, no contract. It would do my heart good to see Amare Stoudemire on a basketball court and say I was part of his lift. God knows, that's my motivation."

Meanwhile, a possible NCAA ruling on Stoudemire could affect his eligibility at Cypress Creek, though the FHSAA bylaw on amateurism speaks only to direct benefits. Athletes who receive gifts or payments can be declared ineligible.

"I don't know that an NCAA ruling would affect our position at all," FHSAA spokesman Jack Watford said. "But we might be very interested in any findings. If somebody is paying for that [public-relations] service on his behalf, there might be some amateur issues."

The NCAA's amateurism rule is much broader. If Little's work for Stoudemire is found to be a violation, any college that signs him would have to appeal for reinstatement of his eligibility. Many analysts believe that will be a moot point, as most expect Stoudemire to apply for the 2002 NBA draft, in which he'd conceivably be a top-five pick.

Coincidentally, Hazell Jr.'s earliest possible release date from the Oneida Correctional Facility in Rome, N.Y., is March 23, 2002. That's about three months before Amare almost assuredly strikes it rich in the NBA draft.

(BUDDY COLLINGS – ORLANDO SENTINEL)