"Aubrey got tangled, and his momentum carried him forward"

Houston guard Aubrey Coleman joins the sad pantheon of college athletes doing the inexcusable in competition. The incident begins at 4:49 of the following video:



Houston coach Tom Penders responded to the incident as follows:

"I know Aubrey, and I have never seen him lose his temper or composure or anything."

Nor did he on this occasion. He appeared to coolly and deliberately stamp on an opponents face, and was, naturally and deservedly, ejected from the game.

"I'm just sorry the official interpreted it that way. The way I saw it, Aubrey got tangled, and his momentum carried him forward, and I think it was a mistake."

One wishes that this was a sarcastic comment from Penders. Should he not see the light, then it is up to Conference USA to hit Coleman with a lengthy suspension. As for the stampee Chase Budinger, he got the last laugh despite getting charged with a technical foul for his reaction. Arizona won the game 96-90 in overtime.

Update 6:29 PM

Coleman has issued a non-apology which does not pass the snicker test, and Penders is standing by his player:

"I want to apologize to Chase Budinger for what happened Saturday night. I never meant to step on him," Coleman said. "I have never been in an incident like this before, and I have nothing but respect for him as a great player."

"I love the game too much to do something like that intentionally. I want to say I am sorry from the bottom of my heart. I know that God knows what is in my heart, but I am hopeful that Chase will understand and forgive." . . .

Like his player, head coach Tom Penders said he regretted the incident but felt confident Coleman did not intentionally step on Budinger.

"Aubrey is one of the finest kids, both on the floor and off the floor, that I have had the privilege to coach," Penders said. "I know that he regrets the situation, but he is an exemplary student-athlete in all ways, shapes and forms."

Penders said he and his staff would work with director of athletics Dave Maggard and Athletics Department administrators to further review the incident carefully.

Update (2) 7:12 PM Monday

CUSA has suspended Coleman for a grand total of 1 game. What a joke.

Update (3) 10:40 Monday

Houston Director of Athletics Dave Maggard completes the Epic Fail:

"During his career at UH, Aubrey has never been involved in an incident that could question his respect for this game," director of athletics Dave Maggard said. "He has apologized to Chase Budinger for what occurred, and Conference USA officials have taken action regarding this matter."

"The University of Houston has always and will continue to uphold the highest levels of sportsmanship in every respect. We apologize to the University of Arizona, its basketball team and to the Tucson community for what occurred Saturday evening. Aubrey will be suspended for Wednesday night's game, and we now consider the matter to be closed."

Update (4) 7:41 PM Wednesday

I made a mistake on Monday by proclaiming this story completed. Both Penders and Coleman have been unable to keep their mouths shut, the result being that Penders is coming across as a bigger ***, and Coleman as a bigger fool.

Penders has claimed that video of the incident was 'doctored' by ESPN. Decide for yourself:

Go here for the audio. But the most ridiculous indication that both Penders and Coleman need to return to the reality-based world is that fact that both are now claiming that Coleman did not make contact with Budinger's face:

"He attempted to step over Chase; at no time did he mean to hurt the kid," Penders said. "It's clear on the replay that he never touches his face, but his shoulder."

Coleman said he thought Budinger was flopping on the play. He said he thought it was going to be a block, not a charge. He said he looked up, reacted, and then "I tried to step over him. He knows it was his shoulder. I even rolled my ankle [trying to avoid] him. I wanted to see if he was OK, but he was up on me," he said.

Yep folks, Coleman's only concern was the safety of his stampee. On a more serious note, ESPN is reporting that Coleman has been the target of harassing e-mails, including racial slurs:

Houston coach Tom Penders said that Coleman, and members of the team, have been getting "very ugly" e-mails over the incident. "There's been a lot of racial slurs," said Coleman, who is black. Budinger is white. "It's crazy. I saved the e-mails. I haven't been contacted, but I do know the police and the FBI were at the practices to make sure everything was safe."

This is contemptible behavior, and if the FBI is indeed investigating, may god speed their inquiries.

Faculty Athletic Representatives Roused into Action?

Yes, occasionally the NCAA proposes something so outrageous, in this case softening academic demands on men's basketball programs, that it happens, as reported by Doug Lederman at Inside Higher Ed:

“The general feeling [of faculty athletics representatives] is that some of what’s in the early stages of the document takes the approach of fixing the APR by tinkering with the matrix instead of getting substantively at why the APR is low in the first place,” said Josephine R. Potuto, the Richard H. Larson Professor of Constitutional Law and faculty representative at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, who heads a group of faculty representatives from NCAA Division I-A universities that wrote to NCAA leaders last week. “The predominant if not exclusive focus should be on the root causes, not on the APR.” . . .

Faculty athletics representatives from the Pacific-10 Conference, in a November 3 letter to Myles Brand and Dan Guerrero, the athletics director at the University of California at Los Angeles who heads the basketball academic enhancement group, said the problem isn’t that basketball players as a group are less academically prepared, but that the players many Division I colleges have historically chosen to recruit and admit are less prepared for academic success.

“Now, faced with academic penalties as a consequence of such recruitment practices, these programs seek to blame the students they recruited for the lack of success they have experienced,” the Pac-10 faculty leaders write. “[W]e are concerned that this opening statement ... is really meant to provide a justification for recommendations ... that would reduce the impact of the NCAA’s Academic Performance Program ... on men’s basketball.” . . .

The basketball working group’s report does offer several substantive proposals aimed at bolstering the academic performance of basketball players once they’re in college, including performing adequately in several credit hours of required summer school.

But its report focuses heavily on a set of changes that would limit the pain that teams feel when their players fail to make progress toward a degree. One would grant exceptions so that teams would not be punished under the Academic Progress Rate when athletes leave a college because of a coaching change. Another would give teams an extra point when a player graduates early (perhaps making up for points they’ve lost because players haven’t graduated at all). Yet another would provide more leeway (some if already granted) if players leave college early to go pro.

In other words, the proposals would serve to further enable behavior which, with the exception of quick graduation, the NCAA should be discouraging. Progression please Myles, not regression.

Links to USA Today Special Report

There was an excellent series of reports at USA today last week on the demands, stresses, and problems inherent in intercollegiate athletics. This sort of journalism validates the necessity of and active press - there is only so much that a blogger can accomplish. Read away!

College athletes studies guided towards 'major in elibigility'

My comments here.

Same team, same major

This illustrates the widespread existence of major clusters, which the NCAA used to claim were not widespread, and now claim are not a problem.

'You could consider football a full-time job'

This story, and the accompanying video, follows a day in the life of model STUDENT-athlete and Illinois center Ryan McDonald.

Athletes' academic choices put advisers in tough balancing act

This story exposes the problems in the academic advising system for athletes. It would not be so much of a problem if most advisers did not report to the Athletic Director. . .

UNLV athletes question degrees in university studies

Some Universities are issuing degrees which their recipients are embarrassed of. YIKES!

"A major in eligibility, with a minor in beating the system"

This sums up the academic atmosphere for all too many NCAA student-athletes today, as exposed in some excellent investigative journalism by USA Today. The entire series of articles is in the must-read category. Here are some of the most telling passages from the central piece:

Steven Cline left Kansas State University last spring with memories of two years as a starting defensive lineman for a major-college football team. He left with a diploma, credits toward a master's degree and a place on the 2007 Big 12 Conference all-academic team.

He also left with regrets about accomplishing all of this by majoring in social sciences — a program that drew 34% of the football team's juniors and seniors last season, compared with about 4% of all juniors and seniors at Kansas State. Cline says he found not-so-demanding courses that helped him have success in the classroom and on the field but did little for his dream of becoming a veterinarian. . . .

His experience reflects how the NCAA's toughening of academic requirements for athletes has helped create an environment in which they are more likely to graduate than other students — but also more likely to be clustered in programs without the academic demands most students face.

Some athletes say they have pursued — or have been steered to — degree programs that helped keep them eligible for sports but didn't prepare them for post-sports careers.

"A major in eligibility, with a minor in beating the system," says C. Keith Harrison, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida, where he is associate director of the Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports.

Note that NCAA President Myles Brand wrote quite recently:

Across the spectrum of Division I, there is little evidence of "clustering," or disproportionate numbers of student-athletes in certain majors.

Let me be clear! You can find examples of football or men's basketball programs with unacceptably low graduation rates. You can also find teams where unexplainably large numbers of football or men's basketball athletes are clustered in certain majors.

The USA Today report explodes Brand's talking point:

A USA TODAY study of the majors of juniors and seniors in five prominent sports at 142 of the NCAA's top-level schools shows athletes at many institutions clustering in certain majors, in some cases at rates highly disproportionate to those of all students.

The study involved the fall 2007 student rolls and the 2007-08 rosters for Division I teams in five sports — football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and softball.

All 120 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) were included, as were 22 other Division I schools with standout men's or women's basketball teams. Nearly 9,300 athletes across 654 teams were covered by the study. Among the findings:

•83% of the schools (118 of 142) had at least one team in which at least 25% of the juniors and seniors majored in the same thing. For example, seven of the 19 players on Stanford's baseball team majored in sociology.

•34% of the teams (222 of 654) had at least one such cluster of student-athletes.

•More than half of the clusters are what some analysts refer to as "extreme," in which at least 40% of athletes on a team are in the same major (125 of 235). All seven of the juniors and seniors on Texas-El Paso's men's basketball team majored in multidisciplinary studies, for example. . . .

Brand's response?

"Clustering by itself is replicated in many parts of the university. It's not necessarily bad," NCAA President Myles Brand says.

Ah, what an excellent rhetorical shift Myles. When the evidence shows that it is a widespread issue, just claim that it is not a problem. Or, sort of a problem. Maybe:

"But when you have extreme clustering … you really do have to ask some hard questions: Is there an adviser who's pushing students into this? Are there some faculty members who are too friendly with student-athletes? I'm not saying that's the case. But I think you have to ask those questions."

The NCAA is going to get on this immediately. Right?

Brand adds that it's up to each school to do so. "There are limits to what the national office can, and should, do," he says. "Anything to do with the academic programs really falls entirely within the purview of the individual institutions." . . .

Silly me for asking the question - way to pass the buck Myles. Where are the students left in all of this?

"There's a mixed message being sent out here" about the importance of academics in college sports, Georgia Tech men's basketball coach Paul Hewitt said in June before the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Several athletes echo Hewitt's sentiments.

Former Boise State safety Marty Tadman was among the 48% of the football team's juniors and seniors majoring in communication during the 2007-08 academic year. Boise State's communication program also drew 50% of the juniors and seniors on the men's basketball and women's basketball teams.

"You hear which majors, and which classes, are the easiest and you take them," Tadman says. "You're going to school so you can stay in sports. You're not going for a degree. … It's a joke." . . .

This is, in part, a consequence of the law of unintended consequences:

There also is a new NCAA rule that threatens penalties for teams with too many players who become academically ineligible or fail to graduate. Based on their annually published Academic Progress Rate (APR), teams can lose scholarships and eventually become ineligible for postseason play, either of which can embarrass a school and affect a team's ability to win.

Hewitt, the Georgia Tech men's basketball coach, bluntly articulated many coaches' view of the "unintended consequences" of the APR system at the Knight Commission meeting in June. He said then that when an NCAA official came to the Atlantic Coast Conference meetings four years ago to discuss the APR system, "almost every coach said: 'You understand what you're basically telling us. We're going to encourage our kids to take the easiest path to eligibility.'

"So if I'm at a Georgia Tech, I'm not going to tell a young man he can't major in engineering," Hewitt said. "But I certainly will counsel him before he takes that first class that … if you decide to go down this road and for some reason you find it harder than you expected and you decide to change your major, you're probably more than likely going to end up being ineligible" for sports.

Why not recruit more players with the capacity to both major in engineering and play basketball? Its not like they are not out there. The truth is that they would do nothing for Hewitt's job security. This will remain the case so long as coaches are rewarded for teams successful in competition but incompetent in the classroom, but get fired for graduating players at high rates while posting mediocre records.

FSU Players, Fraternity Brothers, Brawl in Student Union

Details on this incident are sketchy, but slowly coming in. The most solid information so far has come from Andrew Carter at the Chopping Block Blog, who has interviewed FSU police Major James Russell:

“Today at about 12:37 p.m. today down at the student union where we have our market Wednesdays, kind of a flea market type atmosphere, the FSU PD reported to a large fight occurring in front of the Moore Auditorium, which is in there in the union. So far, we have determined that alleged persons are some members of the football team and members of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. . . .

It involved a large crowd, an undetermined amount of people at this point because we’re still, again, sorting through and seeing who was involved there. We know that there were four people injured – not releasing the types of injuries at this point but we understand at this point that there were two males and two females students injured down there. . . .

Q: Just going to throw this out there – I was told by a witness that one player might have hit an individual with a chair.
JR: We have information that a chair was thrown. . . .

Q: Do you know if the folks were injured were taken to the hospital:
JR: I know that they were at least treated at [student health center]. And that’s all I’m going to release right now as far as the injuries. I’m not saying that they did or did not get taken to the hospital. . . .

Q: Have you heard any motive for this fight?
JR: We’re trying to sort through that right now. Apparently they had a reason to fight – they didn’t just start slugging it out for no reason. We’re going to try to find out where did all this begin.

Shakier information has been disseminated on many blogs and message boards associated with Florida State athletics. Some place the blame on the players, such as this comment at Chopping Block:

The football players were the instigators of the brawl. They were reacting to an incident that took place last week off campus. The frats are in the student EVERY Wednesday. You probably see only a handful of football players. They assaulted four frat boys, sent one young lady to the health center for stitches and another one to the hospital with a broken nose. The latter was hit in the face with a chair. Can you actually believe that four frat boys would take on about 8 football players in the middle of the afternoon on campus? I'm not surprised the media is already siding with the football players.

And here, at Scalpem:

the fsu football players started the altercation-they jumped a sigma last week at a club[one of the smallest members in a chapter of about 30]-probably over a female. they took it upon themselves to come in the union looking for more trouble to start. i have been at fsu for 2years and i rarely see one football player, much less a group of them in the union on wednesdays-its a place where the greeks always go to step and stroll. in the ruckus they ended seriously injuring 2females, one of which is a sorority sister who ended up with her nose broken and needing surgery while the other one required stitches. if the football players were the ones in defense then why were they all well enough to attend practice?

Naturally, there is a different version of the events:

Last night at a Tallahassee night club, a player was getting friendly with the girl friend of a member of Phi Beta Sigma, an African-American fraternity founded in 1914.

In response, a frat member supposedly "jumped" an FSU player today at the student union. Other players came to his defense and things escalated from there.

Even more inside knowledge, and a version of events even more favorable to the players is claimed here:

Several of Florida State's top receivers were involved in a fight on campus around lunchtime on Wednesday at the student union, but sources with knowledge of the scuffle indicate the players involved were defending a teammate who was sucker-punched by an unidentified student.

An FSU official has confirmed to NoleInsider.com that redshirt freshman receiver Taiwan Easterling was punched by an unknown assailant in the FSU student union by a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, and that Easterling had been harassed and threatened by fraternity members for the last few days. . . .

According to an FSU team source [In other words, a player?], after Easterling was punched, he fought back as several FSU football players, including fellow receivers Bert Reed, Greg Carr and Corey Surrency, rushed to his defense.

Was the sucker punch thrown in the opposite direction? Yes, according to a comment at Tomahawk Nation:

Did the sucker punch happen? Yea, but it was the football player hitting the frat guy.

The crazy thing with the stories being report is how it sounds:

1 frat guy (about 5’10, 165lbs) walked up to a football player with a bunch of his football teammates and sucker punches him.

And someone claiming to be one of the two women injured has chimed in as well:

Greetings all I see that every one has an opinon on the issue and being that I was one of the females mentioned I figured that I would post. The altercation was in fact instigated by the FSU football players and there was a union full of witnesses who saw and lots who are making reports sorry to say that the team members where in the wrong in this instance. I think its sad because the other young lady that was assaulted had to go the emergency room and will now need surgery for the damage that they caused. I understand alot of you love the football team but these young men deservemore than inside punishment they have committed a crime and physically hurt a young woman, and they deserved to be punished

As a professional historian, it is always quite interesting to watch the rumor mill churn when there is a contested version of events. This, however, sums things up:

I’ve had it with this kind of garbage, period. Regardless of what comes from the situation, suspensions, dismissal or nothing, FSU football players need to take a line from Top Gun…

“You need to be doing it better and cleaner than the other guy.”

Right now, FSU has a mighty FAIL when it comes to that topic. It’s been a month since FSU got through a week without an incident. Why? Because these “kids” can’t control their emotions or fists? Because someone “dissed” someone else, or someone checked out someone else’s girlfriend.

Update (1) 12:53 PM

If laughing about this is more your thing, do not miss the following post at EDSBS:

FSU Assault Nearly Becomes International Incident

TEE HEE!

Update (2) 3:07 PM

FSUncensored, who would not make a bad historian, notes at Tomahawk Nation:

From a lot of members associated with the Fraternity in question. I am concerned that they are all repeating the exact same story, and I am curious if they were told to by leadership to echo those same lines. While the football team isn't talking, friends of Phi Beta Sigma certainly are, and they are saying that the 'Nole players started this and went to the Union with a purpose. Keep that in mind when reading reports. I am not saying that their accounts are incorrect or fabricated, but since they are the only voice trolling message boards with an actual first hand interest in the outcome, we need to view their accounts with a cautious eye. It is not as if the football players are out there openly giving their side of the story (which would be wildly different).

Update (3) 12:21 AM Nov. 14

Some eyewitnesses are now going on record, and it does not look good for the football players:

"All of a sudden I see like a couple of fraternity boys come down to the middle and then this guy just punched him out of no where," said Valerie Crisostomo, an eyewitness.

"The first punch was thrown by a football player, to one of the members in the fraternity of Phi Beta Sigma. And from then on it was just chaos, it was like football players everywhere," said Ranae Arnette, an eyewitness.

Eyewitnesses say four students were injured in the melee. The general feeling on campus is not one of surprise just disappointment. . . .

"It was dumb. It's not very mature to be fighting. I mean you're in college, come on now. And I mean obviously the football players aren't taking their best interests in because what if they would have gotten hurt? Plus we have a game we need to win this weekend against Boston College. It's just a bad decision on everybody's part," said Stefond Johnson, an eyewitness.

No arrests have been made, but Major Jim Russell with the FSU Police Department says the investigation is ongoing, and the possibility of arrests is "not off the table."

Eyewitnesses say the football players were wearing team apparel, which made them easy to pick out.

Update (5): 12:37 AM Nov. 14

More allegations from another anonymous source, quoted at I Bleed Garnet and Gold:

Someone got stabbed in the face with a pencil. A girl trying to split up the fight got punched in the face and another girl was hit in the face with a chair because a Sigma threw a chair at Surrency and he ducked. When the police split it up, the football players ran so it was only the Sigmas who told their side of the story.

The two girls were taken to the hospital and it’s all on camera. I know Surrency, Reed, and Easterling were involved. Easterling started {the fights} both times. Greg Carr was helping split it up.

Update (6) 8:01 AM Nov. 14

Nothing much new this morning, with the exception of some comments on the continuing investigation:

Florida State police met with players on the Seminoles football team and members of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity Thursday in the aftermath of a midday brawl on campus Wednesday that reportedly involved both sides.

Also in attendance were the dean of student affairs and staff from the Office of Greek Life, said FSUPD spokesman Maj. Jim Russell,

"It's our responsibility to kind of guide them — to do the adult thing, do the right thing to ensure this doesn't happen again," he said. "This behavior will not be tolerated at Florida State University." . . .

With the FSUPD investigation continuing, Bobby Bowden had little to say about the matter following Thursday's practice.

He said if he does not receive the crime report before Saturday's night game against Boston College, he doesn't know what he'll do about involved players participating in the game.

"I'd probably have to talk to our athletic director, president," he said.

Bowden would not divulge what his players had said about the incident.

"I couldn't get into that," he said. "Like everything, it has two sides."

Go ahead Bobby. Sit on your hands. And watch your legacy get trashed.

Update (7) 3:02 PM Nov. 14

Bobby Bowden has suspended five players for Saturday's game with Boston College:

“The police report has not been concluded but from the information that I have gathered, I am suspending five players who were apparently involved in the fray. Taiwan Easterling, Bert Reed, Corey Surrency, Cameron Wade and Richard Goodman will all be suspended for the Boston College game.”

This is very nearly a clean wipe out of his receiving corps.

Update (8) 12:32 PM Nov. 15

More Bowden:

"You’re dealing with 17, 18, 19, 20 year olds. Some of them use poor, terribly poor judgment at times when you have to discipline (for) it...It's a black eye. But gee whiz, you name me a school that doesn't have a black eye somewhere down the line. None of us like it. But life is made up of disappointments. It's how you respond to them is what decides whether you are successful or not. So we'll respond to this thing in a positive way and we'll end up making it work in our favor."

To paraphrase: "Its just a bunch of kids with poor judgment, everyone else has these sorts of problems, and it will all work for the best." Perhaps its time to remove those rose-colored contacts Bobby.

Update (9) 1:58 PM Nov. 16

More Bowden, from the Chopping Block Blog:

Bowden said he’s hoping all five of his receivers will be back this week against Maryland, but that he’ll have to wait to see the report. After the game last night, Bowden said, “I felt like they shouldn’t have been over there but if they hadn’t been one of our boys might have gotten killed.”

He was asked about that comment this morning, and he said the primary reason why he suspended players was because they were at the student union in the first place, when they likely knew that something bad was going down. Bowden said some of the suspended guys came into his office and cried when they received word that they wouldn’t be able to play.

“The fact that they went over there,” Bowden said was reason enough to suspend the players.

Bowden said he wished he could opine about the fight, but that it’d probably be best that he say nothing. Reading between the lines, though, you could easily get the sense that Bowden believes his players were not the instigators of the melee. Again, Bowden didn’t say that. He wouldn’t say that.

He did say this: “To me, it makes a lot of difference in who attacked who.” . . .

One last thing about the fight: Bowden acknowledged that tensions had been building for a while between the involved parties. He said he hoped the police knew the history. He stopped himself from saying more, but suggested that he might spill the beans if he ate a couple more cinnamon rolls.

Bar Battery, SMU Suspensions, and Faculty Oversight

Two West Virginia football players have been charged with battery:

Two West Virginia football players have been charged with battery stemming from an early morning incident at a Morgantown bar in late October.

Tight end Maxwell Anderson, 21, and 20-year-old Jeremy Kash, the starting holder on special teams, are scheduled to be arraigned on the misdemeanor charge on Dec. 3 in Morgantown Municipal Court.

Morgantown Police Sgt. Harold Sperringer said the incident took place on Oct. 25. There was a fight inside a bar, and people filed a complaint with police saying they had been attacked by the players.

WVU Coach Bill Stewart says he's looking into the situation, but hasn't made a decision yet.

Four SMU football players have been suspended for the season:

Four members of the SMU football team have been suspended for the rest of the season.

Aldrick Robinson, Emmanuel Sanders, Derius Bell and Justin Smart will not participate in practices and the final two games of the season according to a source within SMU football. Sanders is a junior while Robinson, Bell and Smart are sophomores.

The suspensions are for minor infractions such as, class problems and being late to meetings.

The players were informed on Monday.

This is part of the "three strikes" rule implemented by June Jones when he came to SMU. It was under that policy that Justin Willis was suspended from Spring Football.

Inside Higher Ed reports on potential conflicts of interest regarding faculty oversight of athletics:

At the University of Michigan, football is king. . . .

When the team made the 2007 Rose Bowl, it might have been hard for many fans to get tickets, but at least seven faculty members knew they would be guaranteed seats. The university’s athletics department not only ensured that members of its Committee on Academic Performance — a faculty body that makes recommendations in cases of athlete eligibility — received tickets, it also covered their travel expenses. Members of the university’s Advisory Board on Intercollegiate Athletics — a group of faculty, alumni, athletes and administrators that advise the athletic director — received the same incentive. . . .

The Committee on Academic Performance reviews cases of athletes who have fallen below the university’s standards. Previously, the faculty committee itself decided whether the students should remain eligible to compete. Under the change, the panel recommends a course of action for the provost to consider in deciding whether that athlete should be able to play, practice only or sit out entirely as a result.

Hanlon said presenting tickets to these individuals does not present a conflict because the faculty members only advise the provost. . . .

*HEAD* *DESK*

Carole Browne, biology professor at Wake Forest and co-chair of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics — an alliance of faculty senates that seek to reform college sports — said these incentive packages are commonplace. For example, because she serves on a similar athletics board at Wake Forest, Browne is offered season tickets to both men’s basketball and football home games. She said she does not accept the tickets, though, because she disapproves of the practice.

*APPLAUSE*

Link Roundup 11/09/08

Mark Hasty comments on Ohio State's 'Small Problem':

Hell hath no fury like a sports dad scorned, and Buckeye receiver/returner Ray Small's dad isn't pleased that his son will not play in this weekend's OSU-Northwestern game. Buckeye coach Jim Tressel suspended the younger Small for one game--"to start with," in Tressel's words--for repeatedly violating team rules.

Small's dad, Ken Small, is calling shenanigans.

"They're intentionally trying to blow his career," Ken Small told The Associated Press by telephone from his home in suburban Columbus.

There is evidence to suggest that Ray Small is blowing his own career, without any help from the Ohio State coaching staff. He was "demoted" from jersey number 4 to number 82 last spring; he is also the only Buckeye on scholarship without a biography in the school's media guide. Hence, he's clearly been in trouble before, and maybe he hasn't quite gotten the message yet.

David Mayo attempts to cheer up Michigan fans over the hiring of Rich Rodriguez, and scores some hits and highly offensive misses. A couple of the hits:

7. Jim Harrick got fired as UCLA's basketball coach for filing padded expense reports. So Rhode Island hired him and he was accused of sexual misconduct by a secretary. So Georgia hired him and a player received an "A" for a course he never attended, taught by Harrick's son, among other scholastic oddities.

RichRod certainly won't get this many botched opportunities. But he never won a national championship, either.

6. Jan van Breda Kolff recruited a basketball player to St. Bonaventure whose qualification for admission was a welding certificate, leading to a far-reaching investigation ending in the ouster of the coach, athletic director and university president.

RichRod has a roster full of players majoring in something called General Studies. But U-M actually knows about it, so I guess it's all right.

UCLA forward Nikola Dragovic has been arrested on suspicion of battery:

Dragovic, a junior from Belgrade, Serbia, was allegedly involved in an altercation with his former girlfriend. Dragovic and his girlfriend lived together, according to Coach Ben Howland, who added that, "They're going through a breakup of that relationship."

Los Angeles Police Department officers arrested the 20-year-old Dragovic at about 4:20 p.m. at the apartment he and the woman had shared in the 3200 block of Overland Avenue. According to LAPD spokesman Jason Lee, Dragovic went to the apartment to collect his belongings. He found them dumped out front.

An argument ensued, during which Dragovic allegedly pushed the woman to the floor, Lee said.

Bail was set at $20,000. It was not known whether Dragovic was still in custody late Friday night.

Georgia Tech guard Lewis Clinch has been declared academically ineligible:

Georgia Tech senior Lewis Clinch is academically ineligible to participate in basketball and will not be available to play for the Yellow Jackets during the fall semester, head coach Paul Hewitt announced Friday.

The 6-3 guard from Cordele, Ga., can regain his eligibility following the semester, which ends Dec. 12. Tech has seven regular-season games as well as tonight's exhibition game scheduled before then.

NCAA Penalizes U. of the District of Columbia

This one has been a long time in coming, and it highlights continuing problems at UDC, which just recently hired yet another president. Best wishes, and best of luck to him. There is a good summary article at Inside Higher Ed, the NCAA press release is here, and details follow from the NCAA public infractions report:

This case presented the single most egregious lack of institutional control ever seen by the committee. Even though the institution has no more than approximately 90 student- athletes whose eligibility has to be tracked at any given time, from the 2000-01 academic year through 2003-04, an astounding 248 student-athletes and two prospective student- athletes were allowed to practice or compete while ineligible and/or receive impermissible athletically related financial aid or housing. The student-athletes were ineligible due to the institution's failure to follow a number of long-time, basic rules that should have been easily adhered to: initial eligibility requirements, transfer requirements, satisfactory progress requirements and the completion of mandatory NCAA forms. . . .

Further, the institution failed to cooperate adequately with the enforcement staff in the investigation of the violations. The institution continually missed deadlines for submitting reports and did not adequately communicate with the enforcement staff. It compromised the integrity of the investigation when it interviewed certain witnesses after being asked to refrain from doing so and then failed to inform the staff that the interviews had occurred. It insisted on conducting an investigation independent of the enforcement staff, but was over two and one-half years late in submitting its final self-reports.

Finally, two former administrators violated the principles of ethical conduct. The former director of athletics refused to answer certain questions in his interviews with the enforcement staff, and the former faculty athletics representative provided false and misleading information regarding his role in the student-athlete certification process. . . .

88 student-athletes were permitted to practice and/or compete while academically ineligible. These student-athletes were ineligible for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, failing to meet initial-eligibility requirements, failing to meet progress-toward-degree requirements, failing to meet two-year transfer requirements, failing to meet four-year transfer requirements and/or failing to satisfy the minimum 12- credit-hour requirement. The number of student-athletes per sport were as follows: men's basketball (26); women's basketball (seven); men's cross country (five); women's cross country (four); men's soccer (28); men's tennis (four); women's tennis (five) and women's volleyball (nine). . . .

When interviewed as part of the investigation, the former faculty athletics representative asserted that he played an integral role in the eligibility certification process. He claimed that every year he formulated an independent eligibility checklist while conducting a thorough analysis of the eligibility status of each student-athlete. None of the individuals interviewed, who were integral to the academic certification process for student-athletes, corroborated the former faculty athletics representative's account of his role. . . .

The penalties adopted and imposed by the committee are as follows: . . .

2. Five years of probation commencing on October 29, 2008, and running through
October 28, 2013. (The institution proposed a four-year term of probation.)

3. Cancellation of the seasons of competition in the following sports during the
academic years noted: men's basketball (2004-05), women's basketball (2004-05),
men's tennis (2004-05), women's tennis (2004-05), men's cross country (2005-06)
and women's cross country (2005-06). (Institution imposed.) . . .

5. Pursuant to NCAA Bylaws 19.5.2.20-(e) and 31.2.2.3-(b), vacation of all contests
from the academic years 2000-01 through 2003-04 in which student-athletes
competed while ineligible. . . .

9. None of the institution's athletics teams shall be eligible for postseason competition during the 2009-10 academic year. But for the institution's substantial self- imposed penalties, including the cancellation of the competition seasons for various sports, this post-season ban would have been imposed for two academic
years.

If only the NCAA would unload similarly on big-money Division I schools, but I digress. I held off on posting until I could get official comment from UDC:

In response to the report, President Sessoms, who assumed the reigns at UDC just two months ago declares, “UDC understands and accepts today’s ruling by the NCAA Infractions Committee.” Sessoms further states, “The penalties proposed in the Committee’s report are consistent with our own recommendations and what we have already self-imposed. We understand that during the years 2000-2001 through 2003-2004 UDC failed to effectively carry out its responsibilities and obligations as a Division II member institution. UDC regrets that the violations occurred. The University has already taken proactive steps to ensure future compliance with all NCAA regulations.”

There is, however, one proactive step that UDC has not taken. The NCAA report also notes:

This case once again highlights the difficulty in one person serving as athletic director and the head coach of a sport. The committee believes that if an institution is committed to participation as a member of Division II, it should be willing to commit adequate resources for athletic administration, including a fulltime athletic director and compliance officer.

The acting Athletics Director at UDC is the head basketball coach, Julius Smith (who, it should be noted, arrived after the violations occurred). Lets hope that president Sessoms follows the NCAA's lead on this point.

Charges against Brandon Fields dismissed; Virginia fullback arrested and charged

Petty larceny charges against Nevada guard Brandon Fields have been dismissed:

Tim Randolph, chief prosecutor for the City of Sparks, said Wednesday the city lacked enough evidence for a conviction.

"Mr. Fields never left the store with anything that didn't belong to him," Randolph said. "Although the officers had probable cause to cite him along with the other two players, I didn't think that we could have proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr. Fields also did community service."

Randolph said Fields has done more than 40 hours of community service in the last week.

The Virginia football team faces new legal woes, but is not taking action against the player involved:

Rashawn Jackson, the team's No.1 fullback, was arrested this week by U.Va. police. He faces two felony charges related to an incident on Thanksgiving last year at a first-year dormitory at U.Va.

Jackson, a redshirt junior from Jersey City, N.J., was charged with grand larceny and breaking and entering. . . .

Cavaliers coach Al Groh was not available for comment. In a statement released last night, Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said: "At this time Rashawn Jackson is still a participating member of the football team. This matter will be handled within the team and the athletics department, and his final status with the team will not be determined until such time as the legal process is resolved or additional information becomes available. The athletics department will not have additional comment until this case is resolved." . . .

He reportedly stole a video-game console from Cauthen Dorm on Nov. 22, 2007. Why police waited nearly a year to charge Jackson is not clear. . . .

Legal Cases: Brenda Monk and FSU; Colorado Student-Athlete

Brenda Monk, the tutor at the center of the Florida State cheating scandal, plans to sue FSU for $600,000, alleging defamation:

Brenda Monk, one of the former Florida State employees alleged to be involved in an academic misconduct scandal, plans to sue the school for defamation, the St. Petersburg Times has learned.

A notice of that intent was sent to the school via registered mail on Wednesday, said her attorney, Brant Hargrove. That's a requirement under Florida law before one can file an action against a state entity.

In the letter supplied to the Times, Hargrove cited two main points:

• "Florida State (the University) failed to adequately investigate facts surrounding an allegation by the University that Dr. Monk failed to perform her duties as a Learning Specialist for Florida State University."

• "The University, after failing to properly investigate said facts, then released for public consumption, derogatory and defamatory statements alleging impropriety by Dr. Monk."

Monk, 59, a Ph.D. who was hired by FSU in January 2001 then resigned in the wake of the scandal in July 2007, will be seeking $600,000 from her loss of employment income and retirement benefits. She is now a principal at the school at the Lake City Correctional Facility.

RyAnne Ridge, a former member of the women's basketball teams at Tulsa and Colorado, has filed a breach of contract suit over the failure of Colorado to provide her a scholarship:

RyAnne Ridge, a member of the CU team for parts of two seasons, filed a breach-of-contract suit against CU and the school’s Board of Regents earlier this month in Denver District Court.

The suit alleges she was verbally promised a scholarship by women’s coach Kathy McConnell-Miller and never received it after transferring from the University of Tulsa. It also claims the coach made contact with Ridge while she was still playing at Tulsa, a recruiting violation CU self-reported to the NCAA in June.

CU is still on NCAA probation from an investigation into the athletic department’s undercharging of walk-on athletes for certain types of meals. That probation lasts until next summer, but Patrick O’Rourke, the university’s chief litigation counsel, said Wednesday the women’s basketball “secondary violation” likely won’t affect the probation.

“We’ve just been served with the legal paperwork, and what I’ve reviewed demonstrates that Ms. Ridge had an expectation of having an opportunity to be walk-on player (instead of a scholarship player),” O’Rourke said. “But we will investigate the claims, and I look forward to hearing about the conversations that Ms. Ridge claims to have occurred.” . . .

A student-athlete suing over a scholarship is rare, according to Wake Forest University law professor Timothy Davis. Davis is an expert in the field and said he hasn’t heard of a decision similar to Ridge’s suit involving a transfer student-athlete.

“There isn’t much in precedence,” Davis said Wednesday. “But if the evidence is there, a court might be willing to entertain it.”

I am no lawyer, but the old joke about a verbal contract being as good as the paper it is written on comes to mind. As things stand, however, it is important to note that scholarships, year-to-year, are de facto granted at the will of the coach. This remains one of the principle flaws in the NCAA scholarship structure, and it means that the futures of student-athletes like Ms. Ridge are at the mercy of their coaches.

Another Coach, Another Scandal

Jon Valdez, ertswhile coach of the University of Illinois Men's Gymnastics team, resigned recently for the classic 'personal reasons':

A University of Illinois gymnastics coach who trained U.S. gymnasts at the Beijing Olympics has resigned for "personal reasons," a school official said Monday, and a published report said he was being investigated for possible misconduct.

Jon Valdez left his job as men's assistant coach on Oct. 17, Assistant Athletic Director Kent Brown told The Associated Press on Monday night.

The details are slowly emerging. First came news that he was under investigation:

Responding to a Tribune inquiry, Robin Kaler, the university's associate chancellor for public affairs, said, "There is an investigation into a camera found in a locker room on campus."

The mind boggles. . . It now emerges that this is not the only thing that is on Valdez's plate:

A University of Illinois gymnastics coach who resigned this month for unspecified personal reasons is facing a drunk-driving charge in Wisconsin.

Waukesha County court records indicate that Jon Valdez was charged with operating while under the influence after his Sept. 18 arrest. He's pleaded not guilty.

Watch this space. . .

Update (1) 8:36 PM

More details from this AP story; we are dealing with a video camera:

Northcutt and university officials have declined to say whether the video camera investigation was a factor in Valdez's resignation, which the attorney said was voluntary. University police hope to finish their investigation into the video camera by the end of the week and send it to Champaign County prosecutors, who would decide whether to file charges.

"Right now, no charges have been filed. And we have not been told by anyone that charges will be filed," Northcutt said.

A student found the small wireless camera inside a locker Sept. 25, university police Lt. Roy Acree said. It was pointed out of the locker through a small opening and "would be able to capture images of people changing their clothes," he said.

He declined to say which locker room the camera was in, other than that it wasn't a room used by students outside the university's athletics programs. Acree said the camera wasn't transmitting images to a computer or over the Internet, but wouldn't say whether investigators found any stored images.

Ugly, ugly. . .

Failed Drug Tests, Shoplifting Charges, and Deferred Justice

Failed drug tests in the North Texas football program do not indicate a drug problem, says their coach:

Fifteen University of North Texas football players failed a drug test conducted this fall at the request of head coach Todd Dodge, according to documents obtained by the Denton Record-Chronicle through the Freedom of Information Act.

Drug tests were conducted on a pool of 86 football players selected by the coaching staff. UNT tested members of the team who were contributing on a regular basis. Fifteen of those tests, or 17 percent, were positive.

The university did not release the names of the players or what drugs they tested positive for.

“I don’t think we have a problem with drugs, but I will say that it’s every coach’s prerogative to test his team,” Dodge said. “It’s a great tool to help players stay away from drugs and temptations. When I talked to my team about drug testing all of them, I told them that if there was one young man on our team who secretly needed help, if it saved one young man from getting in trouble or ending up dead, then it is worth it.”

Two of the Nevada basketball players arrested for shoplifting earlier in the month have plead not guilty:

Nevada starting guard Brandon Fields and freshman forward Ahyaro Phillips have pleaded not guilty to a shoplifting charge stemming from an incident earlier this month at a Sparks sporting goods store.

In the same case involving a Scheels store, freshman point guard London Giles pleaded guilty Wednesday to petty larceny, and was fined $350 plus court costs of $107.

All three players have been suspended indefinitely by coach Mark Fox.

Charges have been filed in the hit-and-run accident which killed Jayson Ray, a UNC mascot, last spring:

A Paramus man was indicted today on charges that he struck and killed a University of North Carolina mascot with his SUV last year.

Armen Hovsepian’s driver’s license was suspended when the Mercury Mountaineer he was driving hit Tar Heels mascot Jayson Ray in March 2007 as he walked along a shoulder on Route 4 East, Bergen County prosecutors said.

Ray, 21, and his team were staying in a nearby hotel for the NCAA East Regional finals.

Hovsepian’s 52-year-old father, Gajik, told authorities that he was the one who was driving the SUV, and based on his statements, investigators ruled the crash accidental, police said at the time.

Several months later, investigators received a tip from a witness that it was the son who was the driver, they said.

Footnotes, Foreign Misadventure, and Random Misbehaviour

Michael Glover's lawsuit against the NCAA and the Big East over his (in)eligibility has been dismissed in federal court:

He argued in a lawsuit in August that the NCAA never gave a reason for invalidating his entire senior year transcript from American Christian Academy in Pennsylvania.

The NCAA argued that the Rhode Island federal court system had no jurisdiction over the case, and the Big East argued that it didn't belong in the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres dismissed both defendants from the lawsuit after hearing arguments Tuesday.

BYU forward Chris Collinsworth was stabbed Tuesday night while working as a Mormon missionary in Sydney, Australia:

Collinsworth's father, Jeff, said from his Mapleton, Utah, home that his son told him that he and his companion on the mission, David Ferguson, were walking in Sydney when they were jumped by a pack of men. Jeff Collinsworth said a scuffle ensued with both his son and Ferguson being stabbed multiple times. He said Chris' shirt was pulled over his head and he was stabbed in the back. The fight ended when a car came up behind the fight and the driver turned on his lights and honked his horn.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Ferguson was stabbed in his hand, tendons were cut and he required surgery. Jeff Collinsworth said that his son did not require surgery. There were, however, stab wounds close to his son's kidney so multiple scans of his internal organs were conducted to ensure that he didn't have any internal injuries.

Best wishes to Chris on a full and quick recovery.

Notre Dame Tight End Will Yeatman has been suspended for the season:

Because of the Sept. 21 arrest, Will Yeatman faces up to 180 days in jail for violation of the terms of a previous case, in which he pleaded guilty in February to misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and reckless driving.

The plea was part of a deferred sentencing agreement made with St. Joseph County prosecutors, who dropped a third charge of criminal recklessness. The sophomore, who also plays lacrosse at Notre Dame, had been arrested and charged Jan. 28 after he drove his car on a campus sidewalk.

Under the one-year agreement, the drunken driving charge would have been dismissed if Yeatman did not commit any crimes during that time.

But Yeatman was arrested and charged Sept. 21 with minor consumption of alcohol, resisting arrest and false informing after police raided the house. The last two charges have since been dropped.

Michigan running back Michael Milano has been suspended for the season:

The university's department of public safety is investigating an alleged aggravated assault on Michigan hockey player Steve Kampfer that took place at approximately 2:25 a.m. Sunday in Ann Arbor. The incident report states that the victim was taken to University Hospital.

Police identified the alleged attacker as a 22-year-old male from Ohio. Milano, 22, hails from Rocky River, Ohio. A 5-foot-7, 193-pound walk-on running back who spent two years on Michigan's wrestling team, Milano appeared in two games last season but has yet to play this year.

San Diego State forward Lorrenzo Wade has been suspended indefinitely:

Wade was released on bail after pleading not guilty to first-degree burglary of an inhabited dwelling in San Diego Superior Court. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison.

Police say a woman in an apartment in the city's College district woke to the sound of knocking at her door on Sept. 21 and then heard people enter the apartment. She waited until the intruders left before going outside and confronting Wade and his companion.

Wade, who lives in the same apartment complex as the woman, turned himself in to police on Oct. 7.

Wade's attorney, Richard Muir, insisted his client didn't take the television. He said he knocked on the door to see if she could move her car.

Bridge for sale! Bridge for sale!

Link Roundup October 13

Gregg Doyel pleads: Don't Hose the Hoosiers

Indiana basketball is laying there, belly exposed, hands tied behind its back. The NCAA is standing overhead, holding a very large hammer. About to swing. Here it comes ...

Don't do it, NCAA. Please. Don't hammer Indiana. The Hoosiers have had enough. . . .

The NCAA is supposed to catch cheaters and see that they are punished, so let's do some inventory here. Indiana got caught -- check. Indiana has been punished -- check. But if the NCAA feels the need to flex its muscle later this month when it announces its findings against Indiana, here's an idea:

Show mercy to the innocents left behind at Indiana, and announce that Kelvin Sampson has received the NCAA's death penalty -- a lifetime ban from college sports. Can't coach again. Can't work in administration. Can't even walk into a college basketball arena to use the bathroom.

I wholeheardtedly agree with Doyel on Sampson, but the NCAA does need to make an example of Indiana.

Doug Lederman notes the on-field success of Northwestern and Vandy

Entering this weekend’s games, teams like Stanford and Rice have winning records in their conferences, and Duke University’s squad, long an Atlantic Coast Conference doormat, has a 3-2 record. . . .

But teams from two selective universities, in particular, are prompting most of the discussion about this being the year of the brainiac universities in big-time football. Vanderbilt and Northwestern are both undefeated, at 5-0, and both of them are ranked in the top 25 in at least one of the key college football polls (Vanderbilt in the low teens, and Northwestern just sneaking into the USA Today coaches’ poll at 22nd).

No thanks, Doug, for giving both teams the Insider Higher Ed kiss of death. Both teams lost on Saturday, with Mississippi State taking down Vanderbilt 17-14, and Michigan State whooping Northwestern 37-20.

University Diaries unleashes her latest tirade against San Diego State

If you’re University Diaries, it just doesn’t get any better than San Diego State University, a bottomless jockhole run by a president who can’t think of anything to do with the university other than run losing plays on its sports fields. Eaten out of house and home by athletics, SDSU has no money, poor academic quality, and shitty infrastructure. President Weber’s solution is to raise student fees enormously to pay … not for classrooms and professors, but for loser sports teams.

JoePa quietly coaches Penn State to a 7-0 record

MADISON, Wis. -- Forget the press box. Joe Paterno could have coached this one from his living room.

A sore hip relegated Paterno to a perch high above the field for the second week in a row -- and once again, not having their iconic leader on the sidelines didn't matter to No. 6 Penn State.

NCAA confirms penalties against Arizona State over staged fight

INDIANAPOLIS---The Administrative Committee of the NCAA Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet has upheld the sanctions imposed against the Arizona State baseball head coach, as well as two student-athletes, for their actions during the 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.

The sanctions stemmed from the altercation between Arizona State baseball student-athletes Brett Wallace and Ike Davis, in the moments before their 2008 Super Regional game against Fresno State University. Arizona State University had appealed the penalties assessed against head coach Pat Murphy and student-athletes Brett Wallace and Ike Davis.

Link Roundup October 2

The NCAA has reaffirmed penalties in two infractions cases:

The first, involving the University of Arkansas, surrounds the vacation of the 2004 and 2005 Outdoor Track and Field titles, in which Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay was instrumental. Arkansas, despite being a double-repeat violator, had whined that the penalties were excessive since they were the result of actions by a 'rogue assistant coach.' Kudos to the NCAA for standing its ground.

The second involves a show-cause coaching ban levied against former Long Beach State assistant basketball coach Reggie Howard, who was at the center of a doozy of an infractions case in which the judgment came down in March.

Elsewhere in the blogosphere:

There is an excellent post by SportsProf on Harvard basketball coach Tommy Amaker's continuing moves to upset the apple cart of Ivy League athletics.

University Diaries continues her chronicling of the criminal adventures of the University of Montana football team.

University of Nevada: In the Clear on Gambling Allegations?

Yep. According to the University of Nevada at least:

The University of Nevada athletic program said Tuesday that the NCAA's 10-month investigation into the university's athletic program has found no lack of institutional control and no gambling-related issues.

"Obviously our department is elated with this decision," Nevada athletic director Cary Groth said. "We feel that we do an excellent job with compliance, and integrity is at the forefront of everything that we do and we were pleased with the findings." . . .

Findings, that is, that have not been released by the NCAA. Of course Groth's statement leaves the possibility that there WILL be findings in this investigation which go beyond gambling and the dreaded 'lack of institutional control'.

The NCAA launched an investigation into the program after the women's soccer coach filed a whistle-blower complaint alleging she was fired in retaliation for reporting rules violations within the Nevada athletic department. The most damning allegation claimed that men's golf coach Rich Merritt, who has since resigned, bet on sports. . . .

This is the most interesting angle on the story that remains. For her part, the women's soccer coach has not one, but three blogs up and running here, here, and here, where her side of the story has been extensively detailed. Her current reaction?

The women's soccer coach said Tuesday that "given all of the information concerning gambling and the lack of institutional control provided to the NCAA, this news is unbelievable."
She said she supplied the NCAA with information she believes supports her claims, and that the university is not completely out of the clear.
"The NCAA Committee on Infractions has the final say and can hand down additional charges," she said. "I look forward to what the NCAA Committee of Infractions has to say about this information."
When asked if she had contacted the women's soccer coach since being cleared of the two main allegations, Groth said: "She has nothing to do with this. This is an NCAA investigation."

Advocacy or Coverup?

There is a very interesting article in the Des Moines Register on how Universities react to allegations of misconduct by their athletes. It deserves a full reading. Some excerpts:

Iowa City, Ia. - At a time when college football programs like those at the University of Iowa and Penn State are working to put public, off-the-field struggles behind them, others are working behind the scenes to make sure new allegations involving athletes and criminal behavior never make news.

My real successes are the ones you never hear about," said Alfredo Parrish, a Des Moines attorney who is representing former football player Abe Satterfield in the alleged sexual assault of a U of I female athlete last fall. "In my view, I've already lost once something gets into the newspaper."

Parrish and other defense lawyers in Iowa who routinely represent athletes say it's seldom possible to keep arrests out of the headlines, but sometimes they succeed. Advocates say athletes, coaches and university officials in college towns across the country have a vested interest in keeping such damaging incidents quiet. The problem, they say, is that athletes often benefit from their efforts to quietly resolve alleged crimes, and victims don't. . . .

The Iowa Board of Regents has initiated this summer a second inquiry into the alleged sexual assault of the U of I female athlete, after learning the victim's mother had accused athletic department officials of mishandling the case. The out-of-state investigators are expected to report to the regents by the Sept. 17-18 board meeting. . . .

Parrish said cases involving sexual assaults are particularly sensitive, and university attorneys and administrators also have a vested interest in trying to resolve issues discreetly. One reason is the university's own legal liability - a specter that has been raised in the alleged U of I assault because the athletes involved apparently had keys to an empty room on university property where the fellow athlete said she was raped, he said.

Last December, the University of Colorado at Boulder agreed to pay $2.85 million to settle a lawsuit brought by two former students, bringing closure to one of the past decade's more sensational cases of sexual abuse. A federal appeals court had ordered the university to stand trial on charges that it failed to do enough to prevent the rapes of the two students at an off-campus party by high-school recruits that was supervised by CU football players.

No Sunshine in Florida?

Mike Bianchi at the Orlando Sentinel continues to be a thorn in the side of Florida State. Kudos:

Not much sunshine in Orlando this week because of Tropical Storm Fay.

Not much Sunshine in Tallahassee either due to another tropical storm on the horizon -- a top-secret list of alleged NCAA violations.

The Sunshine we're talking about is the State of Florida's Sunshine Law, which Florida State is once again trying to finagle around amid an academic fraud scandal that has turned into a national embarrassment for the Seminoles and their athletic department.

A quick legal briefing: Our state's Government-in-the-Sunshine law and corresponding Open Records Act provide almost unfettered and timely public access to documents, tapes, photographs and just about everything else generated by state-funded agencies. . . .

But, so far, Florida State has dragged its feet in releasing a key document that could provide some answers. That document -- the NCAA's Notice of Allegations (NOA) -- is a list of the alleged NCAA violations that occurred amid a cheating scandal involving university employees and more than 60 athletes.

FSU received the NOA two months ago and multiple media outlets, including the Sentinel, have requested its release. . . .

You would think the school would have learned its lesson about the Sunshine Law during the gambling investigation of starting quarterback Adrian McPherson a few years ago. That's when a school administrator actually admitted he didn't take notes during an internal investigation because he was intentionally trying to circumvent the Sunshine Law.

It was this sort of clandestine activity that fueled the perception FSU was trying to cover up the McPherson mess. Which is why President T.K. Wetherell claimed from that point on Florida State would be more open, less secretive. . . .

I have praised you in the past T.K. Why the letdown?


Series:
1. FSU Cheating Scandal
2. Florida State Scandal: Kudos to President Wetherell
3. STUDENT-Athlete Garrett Johnson Fires Both Barrels
4. No Sunshine in Florida?
5. FSU Scandal: Brenda Monk Breaks Her Silence

ASU Baseball: Jason Jarvis Declared Ineligible

The first direct fallout from the looming scandal at Arizona State has landed, with pitcher Jason Jarvis being declared academically ineligible to compete:

Arizona State closer Jason Jarvis on Wednesday was ruled ineligible for the rest of the season, a decision that very likely ends his college career.

An appeal last week of a first-semester grade in an online music course upheld that Jarvis, a sophomore who had two saves this season and 11 last year, did not follow directions while taking an exam. That led to a grade lower than what he needed to be eligible.

Since Jarvis has disclosed that he took all online tests in similar fashion, he would likely face a number of grade changes that “would make it impossible for him to regain his eligibility,” coach Pat Murphy said. . . .

“Jason was not found guilty of academic dishonesty,” Murphy said. “When you look at the entire situation, the conclusion you reach is that at best, this is unfortunate. At worst, it’s unfair.”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder had been granted temporary eligibility before the second game of the season, against Vanderbilt on Feb. 23, pending resolution of his appeal.

For his part, Jason Jarvis blames the ASU administration, and hopes to enter the MLB draft:

A short time ago I requested a hearing to appeal a grade change which resulted in the A that I rightfully earned, being dropped to an XE on an Internet music course that I took in the fall of 2007. An XE grade indicates academic dishonesty which I did not commit. My appeal was upheld and I was exonerated for the academic dishonesty. However, the Herberger College of the Arts will not restore my grade back to the A that I rightfully earned so I will get no credit for taking the 3 credit class. According to the NCAA regulations, I am now considered academically ineligible for the 2008 baseball season. I could stay in school and regain my eligibility next year, however, I am continually amazed with the inconsistent way the ASU administration randomly executes their rules to suit themselves with no care whatsoever for the student. So, rather than continue to struggle through the academic bureaucracy at ASU I have decided to pursue a career in professional baseball and I am currently in the process of petitioning the commissioner of MLB to approve me to enter this years amateur draft in June.

The glaring omission in this statement is, of course, what the A mark was changed to. . .

Series:
1. Arizona State: Scandal Looming in Baseball Program
2. Arizona State Baseball: Jason Jarvis Speaks Out
3. ASU Baseball: Cheating in Online Music Course?
4. ASU Baseball: Jason Jarvis Declared Ineligible

ASU Baseball: Cheating in Online Music Course?

Where have we heard that before. . . There is an excellent piece up at ESPN.com on Arizona State baseball coach Pat Murphy which is worth reading in its entirety. It also contains a few new details on the alleged misconduct within the program:

The complexity and seeming candor of Pat Murphy, undoubtedly, is making things difficult for Arizona State. When a coach is the subject of a university investigation and a school hires an outside firm to determine if he's broken NCAA rules, the normal protocol is that all parties must keep quiet.

"BASEBALL QUESTIONS ONLY," an ASU media type barks after the top-ranked Sun Devils blast Michigan on a cool desert night recently. A gaggle of reporters has little interest in Ike Davis' bat but ample curiosity about the internal rift that could put a major dent in one of college baseball's powerhouses. "IF YOU ASK A NON-BASEBALL QUESTION, THE PRESS CONFERENCE WILL BE OVER."

Murphy, it seems, can't help himself. . . .

Step almost anywhere near Brock Ballpark, and they'll say Mikel Moreno is wrong and Pat Murphy is right. They'll paint Moreno as a bitter 32-year-old valet with fading dreams, an ex-employee bent on taking down a man who's been near the top of his profession for almost two decades. They'll say Moreno's allegations of academic fraud, recruiting violations and other improprieties are unfounded.

But step further, past the campus skateboarders and fist-pumping boosters, and you'll hear people call Moreno a "true Sun Devil," a hard-nosed former MVP outfielder who lived for the maroon-and-gold and just wants to do what is right. . . .

Moreno told investigators from Ice Miller, an Indianapolis-based law firm hired by ASU, that he called and made at least one recruiting visit to meet with coveted junior-college slugger Kiel Roling, eventually convincing Roling to withdraw his commitment to Mississippi and instead go to Tempe. Moreno was listed as a graduate manager at the time. Under NCAA rules, only coaches are allowed to recruit.

Moreno also made allegations of academic fraud.

When word of the university investigation hit in late-February, rumors swirled that more than half the team would be suspended for academic reasons. Murphy has disputed the rumors. The Sun Devils shrugged off the talk and rolled to a 12-0 start.

But questions still linger. Former ASU pitcher Jason Mitchell, who transferred to Central Arizona, told ESPN.com that he and a handful of teammates took online quizzes together last year and helped each other with the answers. Mitchell says the course, Music 354, was popular among baseball players. One semester they'd learn about the history of Elvis; another semester delves into the Beatles.

"We'd take it one at a time," Mitchell says. "One person would go, and the next person would go, and the answers would be the same.

"It is cheating, but I don't think it was anything major. I have friends outside the baseball team in the same classes, and they'd do the same thing. Every single person I knew did the same thing."

Mitchell says Murphy never encouraged him to cheat. The players knew grades were important. If you weren't dedicated enough to go to class, you weren't dedicated enough to play. In team meetings, Murphy called out players who struggled with grades. . . .

Though he calls Mitchell "a good kid," Murphy says he's upset by his former pitcher's claim. He says the university needs to take a serious look at online classes and whether they lend themselves to misdeeds. . . .

Murphy says he's confident the only thing the investigation will drudge up is ticky-tack unwitting violations.

We will see.

Series:
1. Arizona State: Scandal Looming in Baseball Program
2. Arizona State Baseball: Jason Jarvis Speaks Out
3. ASU Baseball: Cheating in Online Music Course?
4. ASU Baseball: Jason Jarvis Declared Ineligible