The NCAA found no wrongdoing in the Lance Thomas jewelry case. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

The NCAA has finished its inquiry into a 2009 jewelry purchase totaling nearly $100,000 by former Duke basketball player Lance Thomas and found no wrongdoing. There will be no disciplinary action against the school.

“The NCAA has found no evidence of a rules violation in this situation based on the information available, and both the NCAA and Duke consider the matter closed,” said a university statement released by associate athletic director Jon Jackson.

When asked about the Lance Thomas situation, Mike Krzyzewski said he doesn't know what happened. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

CHARLOTTE—Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski told the media Wednesday that he doesn’t know the circumstances surrounding Lance Thomas’s December 2009 jewelry purchase.

“No, I don’t know what happened,” Krzyzewski said. “In Lance’s situation, when we heard the rumor of his lawsuit, we contacted our administration in early September. And they then contacted the NCAA. And what they’re doing is looking into it. There’s no investigation, they’re looking into it. We have to make sure that we honor the integrity of that process in moving along. That’s what I’ve tried to do, and that’s really about all I can say about it. That’s just the way it works.”

Thomas purchased $97,800 worth of custom jewelry on Dec. 21, 2009, midway through his senior year. He made a $30,000 down payment and signed a purchase agreement to pay the balance within 15 days. Thomas defaulted on his payment. Raefello & Co. filed a lawsuit in January after repeated attempts to collect payment. The lawsuit was made public in September, and both parties had reached a settlement later that month.

ACC Commissioner John Swofford said the Duke has kept the league office informed.

Lance Thomas's former teammates, Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee, have nothing but postive memories of him. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

DURHAM—When news broke that Lance Thomas was being sued after failing to pay for nearly $100,000 of jewelry he bought his senior year, it caught his one-time teammates off guard.

“It was kind of shocking,” said Mason Plumlee, a freshman on the 2010 national championship team. “You come to the locker room everyday, and you hear about other schools, ‘oh this happened at Ohio State, this happened in football,’ but you think you’re exempt or something because you’re at Duke, but you’re not. Again, we don’t know where he got the money from, what actually happened.”

Lance Thomas spoke to the media for the first time since news of his lawsuit broke Monday when the New Orleans Hornets opened training camp. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

NBA training camps opened today, and 19 former Blue Devils went back to work. Among them was Lance Thomas, who has had a quite busy offseason. To review:

Lance Thomas settled his lawsuit with Manhattan-based Raefello & Co. In addition to the jewelry debt, he also owed rent money his senior year. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

4:05 p.m. update

Former Duke basketball player Lance Thomas has reached a settlement with the jeweler suing him for defaulting on his payment.

“We have reached a settlement,” Mike Bowers, the attorney for Raefello & Co. wrote in an email. “I cannot make further comment."

Thomas purchased $97,800 worth of custom jewelry on Dec. 21, 2009, while the team was on winter break in the middle of his senior year. He made a $30,000 down payment and signed a purchase agreement that said he would pay the remaining $67,800 within 15 days.

Raefello & Co. filed a lawsuit in January after repeated attempts to collect payment. Bowers confirmed to the News & Observer last week that his client had declined to speak with the NCAA about a possible extra benefits investigation.

If the NCAA wants to pursue an investigation, the task will be much tougher without input from the jeweler.

Lance Thomas prepared to take the floor during his senior season. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY-cliddy@newsobserver.com

In today's paper, I outlined two major hurdles that the NCAA faces in investigating whether or not Lance Thomas's jewelry purchase constitutes an extra benefit violation. First, the NCAA is facing a statute of limitations that will expire Dec. 21, 2013, which is four years after Thomas's purchase. And second, neither Thomas nor the jeweler can be forced to talk to the NCAA, and the jeweler has already declined to do so. Check out the rest of the story here.

I also asked both John Infante and David Ridpath, two former compliance directors at Division-I schools, how concerning this situation is for Duke. Both agreed that, yes, this is cause for legitimate worry.

Time will tell whether Lance Thomas's 2009 jewelry purchase results in any repercussions for Duke. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY-cliddy@newsobserver.com

Lance Thomas’s $97,800 jewelry purchase in 2009, now the subject of a lawsuit, came while the Duke team had dispersed for its holiday break.

After the Blue Devils’ Dec. 19 victory over Gonzaga in Madison Square Garden, the team had a few days off before the Dec. 29 game in Durham against Long Beach State. Thomas purchased five pieces of diamond jewelry with a $30,000 down payment at Rafaello & Company, a Manhattan jeweler, on Dec. 21, according to an Associated Press report. Thomas lived just outside the city in Scotch Plains, N.J.

Now, Rafaello & Co. is suing Thomas for the remaining $67,800, which he had agreed to pay within 15 days of his purchase. The lawsuit was filed in Texas’s Travis County in January and had not previously been publically disclosed.

Mike Bowers, the Dallas-based attorney for Rafaello & Co., said his client waited more than two years to file the suit because the jeweler had been trying to collect its money.

“There were efforts taken by my client to secure payment,” Bowers said. “Obviously the lawsuit was an option that unfortunately came to pass when arrangements could not be made to secure payment.”

Lance Thomas practiced today with the Blue Devils and is probable for Sunday's game against North Carolina, Duke announced today.

Staff photo by Chuck Liddy

Duke forward Lance Thomas and center Brian Zoubek are listed as day-to-day after being injured in Tuesday’s 84-81 defeat of Florida State at Cameron Indoor Stadium, a Duke spokesman announced Wednesday afternoon.

Thomas sprained his left ankle, and Zoubek suffered a broken nose. Guard Jon Scheyer also suffered a milder ankle sprain Tuesday, but returned to the game.