Former Kentucky basketball player pleads not guilty in ticket scam case

Ex-UK hoopster pleads not guilty to ticket scam

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A former University of Kentucky men’s basketball player has pleaded not guilty to running a ticket scam that prosecutors say totaled more than $70,000.

Ed Davender of Georgetown entered the plea Friday morning in Fayette Circuit Court. Defense attorney Steve Romines declined further comment on the charges.

The charges allege that he unlawfully obtained money from 19 people between May 2003 and August 2009. Prosecutors say he took money from people and promised them tickets he didn’t have.

Davender, a guard at Kentucky in the mid-to-late 1980s, was released on $10,000 bond.

Along with the Lexington charges, Davender was indicted by a Harrison County grand jury Nov. 3 on three counts of theft by deception involving more than $300.