Seattle ? Washington assistant basketball coach Cameron Dollar has been suspended without pay for one month for a series of recruiting violations, athletic director Barbara Hedges said Wednesday.

Dollar also was banned from off-campus recruiting for the rest of the academic school year and had his pay reduced until April 2003 for violations that included improper evaluations of prospective recruits, phone calls, and face-to-face meetings with prospects and their family members.

“I blew it,” a tearful Dollar said. “I’ve shown the university in a bad light, and for that I’m sorry.”

Hedges said one of the violations alone would not be serious, but the collection of infractions needed to be dealt with quickly.

“We will not tolerate recruiting violations,” said Hedges, who said she never considered firing Dollar.

Head coach Lorenzo Romar, who brought Dollar with him from Saint Louis when he was hired by Washington in April, said he was disappointed in Dollar but still considered him a “man of integrity.”

“He has made some serious mistakes,” Romar said, fighting tears himself when speaking of Dollar. “But his ability to respond from his mistakes has shown me once again the champion he his.”

Dollar said he knew he was bending the rules, but his eagerness to resurrect the Washington program clouded his judgment.

Dollar, who initially acknowledged only a few of the violations, said he panicked when interviewed by NCAA officials.

“This is the first time I’ve ever been questioned about my methods,” Dollar said. “It was a frightful thought.”

The university and the NCAA began joint investigations after Gonzaga coach Mark Few, Eastern Washington coach Ray Giacoletti and Washington State coach Paul Graham complained to the NCAA about multiple instances of contacts between Dollar and high school athletes during so-called “quiet” or “dead” recruiting periods.

The university’s report, released Wednesday, did not identify the athletes with whom Dollar had contact. But The Seattle Times earlier reported that most of the violations centered around 6-foot-9 Josh Heytvelt, a 16-year-old junior at Clarkston High School.

According to the report, Dollar called a prospect at least nine times last spring, during his sophomore year. NCAA rules prohibit coaches from contacting a prospect before March of his junior year.

Hedges said the university would not initiate further contact with the prospect but that he was free to contact the school.

Dollar also had improper contact with two other prospects or their families, the report said. In one case, Dollar spoke privately with a player’s mother. In another, he spoke with a prospect who was among several students participating in an on-campus basketball tournament. Both of those contacts took place outside of the period permitted.

Another assistant, Ken Bone, received a letter of caution for improper contact with a player. Romar received a letter of reprimand and another assistant, Lance LaVetter, a verbal caution.

The university will send the written report to the Pac-10 within the next week. University officials will meet with the league compliance committee Dec. 9 in Los Angeles. The committee will then send its recommendation to the NCAA, which is conducting its own investigation.