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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A judge has dismissed claims of slander and libel filed against Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer over statements he made to NCAA officials investigating recruiting violations at Alabama.
Former player Kenny Smith and his mother, Vicki Smith Dagnan, sued Fulmer and the NCAA in January for $480 million claiming they were defamed when Fulmer told NCAA investigators in 2000 about rumors that Smith's mother was involved with an assistant coach at Alabama.
Fulmer thought the statements were confidential but they were made public when the NCAA handed over written summaries of Fulmer's interview to a federal grand jury in Memphis investigating a criminal case against an Alabama booster.
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