News Briefs; Blogation

I. LSU Brawl Fallout

Kudos to LSU football coach Les Miles for dismissing two players, linebackers Jeremy Benton and Derrick Odom from the team as a result of their participation in some intramural bar brawling on Saturday night. Backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux has been suspended for Saturday's game against Alabama. See EDSBS for the whole sorry story.

II. Alabama Textbook Scandal

Speaking of Alabama, University of Alabama AD Mal Moore flew to Indianapolis on Wednesday along with Compliance Director Chris King to update the NCAA on their investigation into the textbook scandal. This did not, however, result in any change of status for the five football players currently practicing, but suspended from participating in any games.

III. Reggie Bush and USC

The meeting between the NCAA and would be Reggie Bush agent Lloyd Lake, who has threatened to dish the dirt on alleged improper benefits has been pushed back until Tuesday. The longer this meeting is delayed, the more it looks like leverage for a potential settlement of the lawsuit Lake has filed against Bush and his family.

IV. Kelvin Sampson, Liar?

At a news conference today, Kelvin Sampson responded to evidence in Indiana's self report to the NCAA that suggests that he is not merely a cheater, but a liar as well:

Two recruits and their parents said in the Ice Miller report sent to the NCAA that Sampson and former IU assistant Rob Senderoff both spoke throughout three-way conversations. Sampson and Senderoff told investigators that Sampson was unaware Senderoff was on the phone.

Sampson was involved in as many as 18 three-way calls that were in direct violation of his recruiting sanctions which were in effect from May 25, 2006 through May 24, 2007.

“I know what I know, and that’s all I need to say on that,” Sampson said today during his weekly news conference with the media. “The way I answered the question was the right answer."

The right answer to CYA? Or the truth?


I am off to Washington DC for the weekend to attend a conference, so Profane will be taking a brief blogation until Sunday night or Monday. Cheers!

USC & Reggie Bush: New Developments

One of the longest running, but potentially spectacular cases of skullduggery in NCAA sports took another step towards a conclusion yesterday:

Former USC and Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush and his family are being sued by the co-founder of a failed sports marketing agency, according to a filing Tuesday in San Diego County Court.

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for New Era Sports & Entertainment co-founder Lloyd Lake, alleges Bush and his family failed to repay a wide array of benefits they received from New Era while Bush played for the Trojans. One of Lake's attorney's, Paul Wong, said that in addition to filing the suit, Lake has agreed to meet with NCAA investigators this week to discuss Bush's involvement with New Era Sports. . . .

Tuesday's filing purports that from November 2004 through January 2006, Bush and his family received cash, a vehicle and shelter as well as labor, material and services tied to New Era Sports – the agency that expected to represent the USC star when he declared for the NFL draft. The suit places the total value of the benefits extended to Bush, now in his second season with the New Orleans Saints, and his family at just over $291,000.

The suit also claims to have written communication from Bush that promises to repay some of the benefits, stating "On January 14, 2006, Defendant Reginald Bush – reaffirmed his commitment to repay (Lake) in a written communication."

If it is determined by the NCAA and Pac-10 Conference that Bush or his family received extra benefits, he would be in violation of NCAA rules. In accordance to NCAA bylaws, Bush's amateur status could be retroactively voided, prompting USC to forfeit games from the 2004 and 2005 seasons, including its latest national championship. Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy could also be in jeopardy. Per the language on the Heisman ballot, any winner of the award "must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA student-athlete." . . .

In Friday's scheduled meeting with the NCAA, Lake could reveal a variety of information, from receipts, bank and phone records, as well as taped conversations between himself, Bush and Bush's stepfather LaMar. Sources say the recordings were made as Bush's agreement to sign with New Era Sports began to fall apart in December 2005. . . .

Sources close to the failed New Era Sports & Entertainment venture said Bush and his family demanded payments be made in cash, to keep the transactions hidden from NCAA scrutiny. Payments were said to have been made in person to Bush's parents in San Diego, while Lake would personally drive to Los Angeles to deliver monthly payments to Bush at his apartment near the USC campus.

The question, of course, is whether ANY information will be handed over the the NCAA, or whether the threat of a meeting is merely leverage in an attempt to get Bush to settle the lawsuit. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports comments:

Tuesday afternoon, Lloyd Lake, ex-con, former aspiring sports marketer and worst nightmare for the University of Southern California football program, dropped a lawsuit in a San Diego County courthouse and a bomb on the Trojans.

While few of the allegations are new, the lawsuit, and Lake's scheduled meeting with NCAA investigators, changes the entire dynamic of the Reggie Bush case. It is the single worst development that could have happened to USC.

About the only thing, if anything, that can save the Trojans is Bush settling the nearly $300,000 suit between now and Lake's Friday meeting with the NCAA.

NCAA investigators had cited a lack of cooperation with key witnesses in determining whether Bush received extra benefits during his final two seasons at USC and whether the Trojans should have known about it.

That includes Bush, his current marketing agent Mike Ornstein and the two partners in a would-be marketing company called New Era Sports & Entertainment, Lloyd Lake and Michael Michaels, who tried to sign Bush. . . .

Bush and Ornstein are saying nothing to the NCAA. Neither is Michaels after Bush settled out of court with him earlier this year for what sources say was between $200,000 and $300,000. Part of that deal, sources said, is a clause that prohibits Michaels speaking with the NCAA.

While the NCAA has other evidence and witnesses, the most dangerous party for USC was Lake. He was the last major witness who could blow this thing up. . . .

The case against USC, like all similar cases involving players and agents, will revolve around two basic lines of questioning, according to three athletic directors and one former NCAA investigator with whom Yahoo! Sports discussed the generalities.

1. Did Bush receive extra benefits that would make him ineligible for competition? And if so, when did they begin?

2. Did or should have USC officials and coaches known about the extra benefits. . . .

Yahoo! Sports previously reported Lake and Michaels didn't just attend USC games, but after two games even went into the Trojan locker room. That's a place most schools severely limit access to and would investigate the background of any non-relative who gains such access.

"Two guys don't just walk into your postgame locker room," said one athletic director. "You confront them immediately and find out. That's basic stuff."

Yahoo! Sports also previously reported that sources claim USC assistant Todd McNair knew of Bush's relationship with both Michaels and Lake. Moreover he spent a night out in San Diego with Bush, Michaels and Lake and knew Bush was staying the night in a $500-a-night suite at the city's Manchester Hyatt.

Yahoo! Sports obtained a receipt for the stay that was paid for by Michaels' credit card. USC refused to allow Yahoo! Sports to interview McNair.

Those bits alone, especially if Lake provides details, could prove to be damning blows for the Trojan program. . . .

But for USC, Tuesday's lawsuit was a terrible development, the kind that can blow open the doors on Heritage Hall, imperil both the past and future and send Carroll scurrying back to the NFL.

Three days and counting until Lake meets with the NCAA. Only another last-second bit of Reggie Bush heroics – this time in the form of a big check to Lloyd Lake – can probably help his Trojans now.

At this point, however, Bush's lawyer says that the lawsuit will be 'vigorously' fought. Stay tuned.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Sanctioned

Cheating, and enforcement, is not confined to the highest profile schools:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division II Committee on Infractions has penalized Indiana University of Pennsylvania for major violations in its men’s basketball and men’s and women’s swimming program. The violations include two charges of unethical conduct, a failure to monitor and impermissible benefits.

Penalties for the violations include placing the university on probation for two years; reducing the number of scholarships for both programs; a vacation of select swimming records; and placing the former head swimming coach on a two-year show cause order. . . .

Regarding the infractions in the swimming program, the former head swimming coach impermissibly hired one of his student-athletes, forged signatures so the student-athlete could be paid, and arranged for her to be paid for work she did not perform during the 2005-06 academic year. It was determined that this student-athlete was paid an hourly wage of $13.90, which was far above the usual $5.15 rate paid to students employed on campus.

The former head swimming coach also supplied three student-athletes with impermissible extra benefits totaling $1,365 during the 2004-05 academic year. These funds were provided to pay for personal expenses, as well as the student-athletes’ lodging, transportation and pool rental during an annual trip to Florida. The university typically requires student-athletes to cover these costs, except for meals.

In addition, during the fall of 2005, the former head swimming coach failed to withhold two student-athletes from athletics competition even though the former head coach was previously informed by the university’s compliance office that the young men were ineligible to compete. He allowed the student-athletes to represent the university in a swimming meet on October 29, 2005. . . .

In the men’s basketball program, the former head men’s basketball coach engaged in a scheme from the 2000-01 academic year through 2005-06 designed to stretch his scholarship dollars. During that time, he had 14 men’s basketball prospects complete their admission applications using Pennsylvania addresses, including that of the former head coach, so that the student-athletes could qualify for in-state tuition rather than the more expensive out-of-state rate. In some instances, the former head basketball coach completed the applications for the young men. His deceit caused inaccurate information regarding financial aid to be recorded on the men’s basketball squad list and, although neither team nor individual equivalency limits were exceeded, the actions of the former head men’s basketball coach caused the university to grant a men’s basketball student-athlete impermissible state aid in the amount of $6,450.

Further, during the summer of 2005, the former head men’s basketball coach arranged for the textbooks for two student-athletes to be paid for out of an account the former head men’s basketball coach established at the campus bookstore.

IUP President Tony Atwater has released the following statement:

The university has been fully cooperative in the NCAA investigations relating to our basketball and swimming programs. Swift and decisive action has been taken to address the compliance and personnel issues relating to this matter. We continue to pursue strategies and practices to strengthen our system of oversight to ensure that our athletic program is in compliance with NCAA regulations and is operated in accordance with the university’s high ethical standards.

In this case the statement appears to be more than lip service, given that both coaches in question, Gary Edwards and Dave Caldwell resigned over a year ago, and that the NCAA declined to impose institutional sanctions beyond IUP's self implemented penalties.

Indiana University's Spin Control. . .

. . .has been asleep at the switch until now. It has finally stepped into the fray:

Indiana Releases Men's Basketball Documents

Oct. 30, 2007

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University Department of Athletics today announced its release of all documents relating to its discovery and subsequent investigation, and self-disclosure of recruiting violations and issues with the sanctions involving the men's basketball coaching staff.

"When reviewed as a group, these reports provide a very clear picture of what took place in this matter. Accordingly, we have chosen to impose very significant self-imposed sanctions that we are operating under currently and have recommended to the NCAA," said Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan.

Thats right. Nothing more to do. We have handled it all ourselves.

The documents include an October 3 independent investigative report that was submitted to the NCAA Committee on Infractions focusing on 111 telephone recruiting calls last season that were found to exceed limits on the number of times a prospective athlete could be contacted under NCAA sanctions (109 of the calls) or NCAA rules (32 of the calls, 30 of which also were contrary to the sanctions). A second document is the self-report to the NCAA enforcement staff regarding the phone calls that violated NCAA rules. That report concluded that out of these 32 phone calls it is likely only 13 actual conversations occurred. Also among the documents are two other reports detailing the circumstances of impermissible personal contacts with recruits or their families not related to telephone calls.

Note how the writer sets up a distinction between the violations committed as a result of the sanctions on Sampson, as opposed to standard rules violations, as if that gets them off the hook for either set.

All the violations are being reported to the NCAA as secondary infractions. . . .

"Through extensive and lengthy discussions with our legal counsel, it was concluded that these violations are of a secondary nature because they represented isolated instances. They provided little, if any, recruiting advantage and did not involve any extra benefits," Greenspan said.

Once again, NCAA, nothing more to punish us for!

"However, Indiana University expects and demands full and complete compliance with all NCAA rules and will continue to do so. I will continue to send a very strong message to our coaches, student-athletes and supporters that our standard is and will always be complete compliance." . . .

Then why did you not fire Kelvin Sampson? I sense more spinning on the way. . .

Greenspan said the limitations on recruiting were extended for another season to ensure that the full effect of last season's NCAA sanctions on recruiting is realized.

The Ice Miller report found that of several thousand recruiting calls made from May 2006 to May 2007 by the assistant coaches, a total of 111 exceeded sanction or NCAA limits. Of those, 101 were made by assistant coach Rob Senderoff, in addition to 9 other three-way calls in which he connected a prospective athlete with head Coach Kelvin Sampson.

Although permissible under NCAA rules, three-way recruiting calls involving Sampson were in violation of the stricter, NCAA-imposed sanctions which were in effect on the IU staff last year from May, 2006 to May, 2007.

Greenspan said the Ice Miller report did not conclude that Sampson acted deliberately to violate the sanctions he was operating under last season.

In its conclusion, the report states that investigators "considered the fact that with so few impermissible calls involving Sampson out of the thousands of recruiting calls made from May 2006 through May 2007, this could not have been a purposeful plan to circumvent the sanction."

So we are to believe, then, that Kelvin Sampson was not aware of what recruiter extraordinaire Rob Senderoff was up to?

The investigation found that most of the impermissible calls occurred because Senderoff failed to log calls made from his home telephone, thus making it impossible for compliance staff to accurately track the number of times each prospective athlete was contacted by telephone. Most of Senderoff's calls were made from his cell or office phone and were properly logged.

Because of the inaccurate records, some prospective athletes and their families were called by assistant coaches more often than permitted under the sanctions or NCAA rules.

Ahhhh. Calls from home. Inaccurate records. PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY. But there is more:

Two violations unrelated to telephone conversations were also reported to the NCAA:

On May 12, Senderoff arranged a 15 to 30-minute meeting at Assembly Hall between former IU President Adam W. Herbert and the mother of a prospective student athlete. The mother had come to Bloomington to watch her son participate in an AAU basketball tournament at Assembly Hall. NCAA rules prohibit schools from making recruiting contacts with tournament participants or their families until after the tournament is over. To determine whether a violation had occurred, the university had to confer with the Big Ten conference, which in turn had to request assistance from the NCAA to clarify the complex rules in this area.

Ummmm, seems pretty clear to me. Student at tournament. Recruiting contact. Violation.

On June 30, assistant coach Jeff Meyer arranged for Sampson to meet with a prospect who was in Bloomington to participate in a Sampson-sponsored tournament. Because NCAA rules prohibited Sampson from making recruiting contacts with tournament participants, the prospect's coach was told he would have to withdraw from subsequent participation if he met with Sampson. The meeting took place, but the prospect returned to the tournament the next day unbeknownst to Meyer or Sampson.

Both of these infractions were reported as secondary violations because they provided no recruiting advantage and did not include any inducement or extra benefit.

NO RECRUITING ADVANTAGE? FROM A MEETING WITH AN EX UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT AND AN EXTRA MEETING WITH THE HEAD COACH!?!?!? Ok. I have screamed. I feel better now. I will hopefully feel alot better if the NCAA comes down hard on Kelvin Sampson and Indiana, who may be looking at the dreaded phrase 'lack of institutional control' before long.

UPDATE: 1:00 PM

The Indianapolis Star has released a PDF of Indiana's self-report to the NCAA.

UPDATE: 1:19 PM

Here is where, institutionally, Indiana really screwed up. From page 17 of the self-report:

These three-way calls were not noticed during the compliance staff's regular and usual monitoring of phone calls during the course of the academic year as both manual and computerized searches focused on the declared recruiting phone numbers being called and the frequency of calls to these numbers, not other columns or information on the phone bills. In addition, because the three way code was always attached to a local call on the phone bill, it was not detected in analyzing the calls to the declared recruiting numbers. Further, since the coaches had requested and received a clear interpretation from the Committee on Infractions in June 2006 that three-way calling with Sampson would not be permissible (see Item No. 8, Attachment L), three-way calls should not have been an issue.

So, since the coaches were told that they could not do something, the compliance staff simply assumed that they would not? This is a classic case, in NCAA speak of a 'Failure to Monitor'.

UPDATE: 6:30 PM

Audio from the afternoon teleconference at Indiana, courtesy of the Bloomington Herald Times. Nothing in the way of significant new information.

UPDATE: Wednesday 3:26 PM

Rob Senderoff's severance agreement has been released. It is uninformative legalese for the most part.


Series:
1. Kelvin Sampson Cheats Again
2. More on the Kelvin Sampson Imbroglio
3. Indiana University's Spin Control. . .
4. The Kelvin Sampson Bomb is Set to Blow. . .
5. Kelvin Sampson: "Time to Cleanse the Slime"
6. In June: Sampson versus Senderoff?
7. Source: Sampson Out, Dakich in at Indiana
8. Commentary on Sampson's Departure

More on the Kelvin Sampson Imbroglio

There is some excellent commentary from Mark Tupper of the Decatur Herald and Review:

CHICAGO -- No, Kelvin Sampson did not throw himself on the proverbial sword and resign. Nor did anyone walk up to the Indiana basketball coach and hand him a cell phone, saying, "Here, coach, it's for you."

Would have been funny, but it didn't happen. . . .

This is already an old joke, but expect those sorts of hi jinks during every Indiana away game this season.

Even Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany voiced his displeasure that Sampson is once again on the hot seat.

"I expect three things from the coaches in this league," Delany said. "I expect them to coach and educate. I expect them to abide by the rules. And they are expected to win. The first two supersede the third.

"The conference will wait to see what the NCAA report says but I am disappointed."

Starry eyed moralizing? Nah. Scandal is bad for business.

Sampson danced around the issue, saying, "We're focusing on basketball now."

It was interesting Sunday to hear other coaches talk about one of their Big Ten brothers. No one wanted to hang him out to dry - including Illinois' Bruce Weber, who wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if Sampson vanished, never to be heard from again.

But one gets the feeling that no coach really trusts Sampson, either. And who can blame them? I mean, who cheats while they're on probation?

Sampson, by the way, would dispute the notion that he was cheating. He blamed the violations on "sloppiness," implying they were innocent of any maliciousness and were simply careless in the process of trying to do things right.

Yeah, right.

Although the cases are not the same, it's worth recalling that when Fresno State head coach Ray Lopes flagrantly made a number of improper phone calls (after he'd done the same during a previous employment), the NCAA barred him from coaching at a member school for three years.

And that previous school? Oklahoma, where he was an assistant coach for Sampson. . . .

Yep, Lopes learned to cheat from the best.

If I asked, "Why would those same fans put up with Sampson's shenanigans now?" it would be a rhetorical question. Because we all know the answer.

Some fans, regardless of school affiliation, will always justify transgressions if it translates into success. One Indiana fan was asked by the Indianapolis Star what he thought of the situation and the decision to withhold Sampon's bonus pay.

"Is Eric Gordon and a national championship worth $500,000? I say yes."

See also this article in the Indiana Daily Student:

CHICAGO – For the second year in a row, IU men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson fended off questions at Big Ten Media Day about his recruiting practices. . . .

Assistant coach Rob Senderoff, the man the IU Athletics Department has said is responsible for making dozens of impermissible phone calls, did not attend a men’s basketball open practice Friday. When asked about Senderoff’s absence, Sampson sharply declined comment.

“No, I’m not answering none of those questions,” Sampson said. “I am not even getting into any of that stuff. We’re dealing with stuff, and I’m going to coach my team.”

When asked what Senderoff’s role has been in practices, Sampson said “I’m not getting into that.”

The brief exchange with reporters came during a three-hour interview period at the annual event.

After the open practice, Director of Athletics Media Relations J.D. Campbell said Senderoff missed the practice to tend to personal matters.

How convenient.

UPDATE: 2:28 PM

According to Fox News, Assistant Coach Mark Senderoff will be thrown under the bus:

Indiana assistant coach Rob Senderoff will resign Monday in the wake of the recent phone scandal involving the Hoosiers, according to two sources close to the program.

Senderoff has become the "fall guy" for Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson, who came to Bloomington and was immediately hit with NCAA sanctions back from his days at Oklahoma.

In other news, dog bites man.

UPDATE: 3:06 PM

FOX News Report is 'Off the Mark':

IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre would not confirm reports Monday that Rob Senderoff will resign as assistant IU men’s basketball coach.

MacIntyre said he did not know whether Senderoff is currently a University employee, and he said he was not informed of any pending resignation.

However, MacIntyre said reports by Fox Sports that sources close to IU athletics said Senderoff would resign today were “off the mark.”

“I think that reporter does not know what he is talking about,” MacIntyre said.

The plot thickens. . .

UPDATE: 6:53 PM

Without citing any further sources, Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News is reporting that the resignation of Rob Senderoff is a foregone conclusion, and adds some details:

Here is the basic punishment if you commit secondary NCAA rules violations: They put you on a plane, send you off to take a seminar on how the rulebook is supposed to work, then put you back to work doing whatever it is you do -- presumably, recruiting new athletes for your university.

Here is what happened to Indiana assistant coach Rob Senderoff: He was given three days to accept the offer to resign his position. . . .

At Indiana, he was charged with making roughly three dozen impermissible phone calls over the course of 15 months -- a little more than two a month. You don't get rid of somebody like that. You yell at him, tell him he was extremely foolish to break that particular rule under this particular coach, and then put a note in his personnel file.

If this was to be the solution, why was it not the original conclusion? Did Indiana suddenly find religion? Or did the initial media reaction to the revelations present a convincing case that firing a lower-level employee would be a keen public relations move?

Well, it wasn't.

Absolutely. If true, it looks like a failed attempt to cover Sampson's ***.

This was the worst call anyone at Indiana has made in years. . . .

Actually, that was hiring a cheater in the first place.

UPDATE: 11:35 PM

The Bloomington Herald-Times is reporting the same thing as Mike DeCourcy, and adds some detail:

Indiana men’s basketball assistant coach Rob Senderoff has resigned at the university’s request, according to sources close to the situation.

An official announcement is expected today.

Senderoff, 34, could not be reached Monday. The voice mail message on his university-issued phone had been changed to say that he can no longer be reached at that number and will not check any messages left there.

Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson and athletic director Rick Greenspan were not available for interviews Monday.

Senderoff was told on Friday, the same day he was absent from a basketball practice open to the public, that he had three days to turn in his resignation. He did so, and will receive a severance package from the university. . . .

Assuming the story is true, the manner in which Indiana University mishandled this story is breathtaking.

UPDATE: Tuesday 12:02 AM

Another small detail in the Indianapolis Star:

Indiana University assistant basketball coach Rob Senderoff's resignation will be announced today by the school, according to a source close to the program.

The resignation is being characterized as voluntary.

Lawyers for the university and Senderoff began meeting Friday to discuss a settlement. Monday afternoon, they reached an agreement, the source said.

Voluntary? As in resign or be fired?

UPDATE: Tuesday 11:43 AM

Its official. Indiana University released the following statement this morning:

Bloomington, Indiana - Rob Senderoff has decided it is in his and Indiana University's best interests that he voluntarily resign from the University. His resignation is effective immediately.

The internal report on the recruiting violations has also been released to the local media:

The Ice Miller report that details Indiana University's self-reporting of impermissible telephone calls made by the IU basketball staff during the period when Kelvin Sampson was under NCAA sanctions for recruiting was released to the media this morning.

The report, which is 4-inches thick, gives specific details on the more than 100 telephone calls that IU believed could potentially be violations. There were 35 calls in particular that the university singled out as being possible NCAA secondary violations.

Considering the ineptitude with which Indiana handled this matter, along with looming NCAA sanctions, do not expect this story to go away any time soon.


Series:
1. Kelvin Sampson Cheats Again
2. More on the Kelvin Sampson Imbroglio
3. Indiana University's Spin Control. . .
4. The Kelvin Sampson Bomb is Set to Blow. . .
5. Kelvin Sampson: "Time to Cleanse the Slime"
6. In June: Sampson versus Senderoff?
7. Source: Sampson Out, Dakich in at Indiana
8. Commentary on Sampson's Departure

Inside the World of NCAA Compliance

Check out this interesting article about compliance activities within the MAC in general, and Ball State specifically:

MUNCIE -- Ball State University was ahead of the curve in 1992 when it was the first Mid-American Conference school to hire an athletics compliance director.

That was then. This is now.

The Ball State athletics compliance department no longer sets the bar for the MAC. Since 2002, the school has fallen behind many of its conference counterparts in having enough staff to track its compliance with a burgeoning NCAA rule book. . . .

"If it was up to me, I'd have more people," said Kyle Brennan, the director of athletics compliance and eligibility at Ball State. "It's really just me. That is low for the MAC. I'm grateful to athletic director Tom Collins and president Jo Ann Gora for the GA. I've tried to get more people on the staff to keep up with every team and all the NCAA requirements."

The compliance department interprets the NCAA rule book for athletes, coaches and administrators to ensure that the athletic department adheres to the guidelines. A copy of the manual -- all 440 pages of small-print jargon -- sits on Brennan's desk.

"It's not a pop-up book," Brennan said. "It seems to be written by lawyers for lawyers. They read just like statutes."

Brennan was a probation litigation attorney in Denver before he accepted a compliance assistant position at Northern Illinois in 2004, so he understands the lingo. His responsibility is to make sure the coaching staffs for all of BSU's 19 sports, 430 student-athletes, and the Cardinal Varsity Club understand it as well. And with the NCAA rules constantly expanding, the responsibilities for a compliance department have become burdensome on staffs of three and four, let alone one. . . .

The textbook violation occurred when David Land was the athletics compliance director. He was replaced by Brennan before the 2006-07 school year, but there were no additions made to the staff.

"Is it enough?" Gora said about the size of the compliance department when questioned during a Star Press editorial board meeting last week. "I don't think any of the violations would have been avoided with more people. The compliance official at the time there was David Land, and the NCAA was very hard on him. He should have monitored the situation."

Brennan already applied to the Office of University Compliance for more additions to his staff for next year but that seems unlikely, according to Gora.

"I'm satisfied with our compliance office and the staffing," Gora said. "We changed compliance officers and instituted a program of rules education that is significant.

"I don't think the number of compliance officers is key, but what they do and how they function."

In other words, Kyle Brennan, you are expendable, and you are the scapegoat should Ball State have any future compliance problems.

The Ball State compliance office funds the staff salaries, but the athletic department pays for all the other expenses. Those expenses range from camps to clinics to software updates to travel. Brennan said his options are limited because his budget, including salary, is less than $100,000. By comparison, the Eastern Michigan director of athletic compliance, Melody Reifel Werner, said her budget is around $200,000.

When asked if he understood Brennan's worries about being understaffed and underfunded, Ball State athletic director Tom Collins said, "absolutely."

Werner once operated under similar conditions as Brennan. Underfunded and understaffed, she took her case all the way to the top. Now, she has a faculty compliance associate, a graduate assistant and two interns.

"Like everybody, we were understaffed. I went to our president and explained I thought we were vulnerable and at risk of violations because we were understaffed," she said. "The president granted a 100 percent release to a faculty member, so I have someone with 25 years of teaching experience working for me full time." . . .

Ahhh, so the practice of minimizing reported athletics expenses by utilizing other budget lines extends to compliance as well.

Some compliance departments benefit in the long run from their athletic departments committing NCAA violations. Michigan State associate athletics director for compliance Jennifer Smith said the NCAA recommended changes to the department after the school committed violations in 1997 that landed the school on probation. The school responded by bringing in new leadership and adding two positions. The sweeping changes bolstered the compliance department, and since then Michigan State has steered clear of any NCAA investigations.

So if the NCAA punishes Ball State further after ruling on the Thompson investigation, will the school follow Michigan State's example and bolster its athletics compliance department? There's no reason to think so at this point.

"I would hope so. I don't know," Brennan said. "With the book scandal, they've known about it for two years and there's been no staff added."

Best of luck Kyle, best of luck.

Arkansas Penalties: Tyson Gay 'Disappointed'

Although he was not named in the NCAA report, Tyson Gay, the World 100 meter and 200 meter champion, was the athlete whose improper benefits resulted in the vacation of Arkansas' 2004 and 2005 Men's Track and Field titles amongst other penalties. He spoke out about the sanctions last night:

I'm very upset with the situation. I really can't comment too much (because) Arkansas' appealing it. That's a good thing. I'm just disappointed about the fact they're taking the team title from people who worked really hard to win as a team. Some of those people, those were their last races. They'll never get to run again or have another championship. I don't think it's fair for you to take that from people who work really hard.

On one level I have to agree with the inevitable 'ITS NOT FAIR' chorus which always accompanies NCAA sanctions. There are always many student-athletes who are penalized as a result of the rule-breaking of coaches, boosters, and fellow teammates. At the same time, vacating titles and, in some cases, wiping entire seasons off the books has proven to be one of the only methods of punishment which everyone from University presidents, to athletic directors, coaches, and boosters takes seriously. It is precisely because it is a penalty which really hurts, unlike others such as scholarship losses, recruiting restrictions, and probation. In other words, it is a punishment which actually has deterrent effect.

As for Gay himself, he claimed ignorance of the violations:

Gay repeated last night that he didn't know anything was wrong until he had completed his collegiate eligibility.

"It was a shock to me. I found out when (federal prosecutors) told me I had to testify," he said. "They told me 'either you come and testify or you go to jail.'"

Gay testified and Brauman, who remains his coach, served a year in prison. Gay says he and Brauman "haven't talked about (the violations) much."

My sympathy for Gay just evaporated. . .