Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- We were duped. Played for suckers. Hoodwinked.

You. Me. Basketball fans in Piscataway, New Jersey. Even Oprah.

Back up to when Don Imus used some nasty words to describe the Rutgers women's basketball team. Hateful words. Inexcusable words.

So to set things straight the university held a press conference to reveal the truth about the players and the program. Not the whole truth, though.

We heard adjectives such as kind and compassionate. And smart and funny. And caring.

C. Vivian Stringer, the team's coach and conscience, spoke passionately that day. Her eloquence won admirers including, as a previous column shows, me.

She introduced herself and her players to the world. One- by-one the young women that made up the basketball team approached the microphone and explained their anger and bewilderment at what Imus had said about them.

Heather Zurich, now a junior, gave us a glimpse into the makeup of Kia Vaughn. She told us, for instance, that the 6- foot-4 center is the big sister you never had but always wanted. We were told that Vaughn helped raise seven little brothers.

No one described Vaughn as a money-hungry opportunist that day.

Now, the Truth

The whole truth.

Imus apologized to the team in person. Face-to-face. Stringer, in turn, said she and her players accepted his apology. Apparently, for the 20-year-old Vaughn, though, sorry wasn't enough. Humiliation wasn't enough. She wants dollars, too.

Vaughn, you see, filed a lawsuit against Imus and his former employers, CBS Radio and the MSNBC cable channel, claiming the shock jock's racially charged comments about the team damaged her reputation.

Imus ignorantly referred to the team as ``nappy-headed hos'' during his April 4 program on CBS Radio's WFAN in New York.

``Unless they've given `ho' a whole new definition,'' Vaughn said at the press conference, ``that's not what I am.''

Vaughn came across as bright, articulate, passionate, driven and caring. Even wounded. Imus, by contrast, was made to look foolish. Point made. Point taken.

Not Satisfied

Vaughn isn't satisfied.

``She would give anything to not have had this kind of attention,'' said Vaughn's attorney, Richard Ancowitz. ``She was happy in her life before this, but she's not happy about a future where she'll be referred to as one of the women Imus referred to in that fashion.''

Quick: Name another member of the Rutgers women's basketball team. Show me one person outside of the RAC (Rutgers Athletic Center) who associates the name Kia Vaughn with Don Imus.

Imus, we learned at that press conference, will not and cannot define these women. They will. What they do. What they say. That's as it should be.

If anything, Imus gave these women a global platform to reveal themselves, to remind everyone of the ugliness of stereotypes.

Let's face it, even after a run to the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship game, which Rutgers lost to Tennessee, sports fans at large had little affinity for the women of Rutgers.

One to Forget

They were, to the masses, just another second-place team to be forgotten. Here today. Gone tomorrow.

No one questioned whether the women of the Rutgers basketball team were smart. Or funny. Or driven. Or talented. Truth is, no one thought about them at all.

Now we know the truth. We're better for it.

Vaughn's suit was filed on Wednesday, the same day Imus settled his contract dispute with CBS Corp., clearing the way for his return to broadcasting.

Also named in the complaint were Westwood One Inc., which syndicated the Imus show, and Viacom Inc., the parent of CBS until they split into separate companies.

Add this to what we've learned about Kia Vaughn: She understands the meaning of deep pockets.

It makes you wonder what Stringer, who at the press conference told tales of lessons learned from her coalminer father, thinks about it.

Stringer isn't saying, according to a Rutgers spokeswoman.

Maybe the companies and Imus will settle with Vaughn. Maybe not. It doesn't matter, Ancowitz said.

``This is about Kia Vaughn's good name,'' he said. ``She would do anything to return to her life as a student and respected basketball player -- a more simple life before Imus opened his mouth on April 4.''

Vaughn made it clear at the press conference that she wanted Imus to shut his mouth.

The suit makes clear what she wants him to do with his wallet.

Open it, of course.

(Scott Soshnick is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 17, 2007 00:03 EDT