I posted this originally about a year and a half ago, and thought some of you might be interested in how the current scandal stacks up with the most infamous ones. It is interesting to see what the NCAA response was in the past. Sorry for the length.
11. The Noles Sing
The NCAA came down hard on Florida State for academic fraud that involved a total of 61 athletes who allegedly cheated on an online music course exam.
The NCAA placed Florida State on four years' probation, cut 19 athletic scholarships and ordered the school to vacate victories by 10 teams (different sports) whose student-athletes were involved. The winningest coach in college football history was stripped of 14 wins.
The NCAA found no evidence that Bowden and other Florida State coaches played a role in the scandal or knew that cheating was occurring.
The NCAA came down hard on Florida State for academic fraud that involved a total of 61 athletes who allegedly cheated on an online music course exam.
The NCAA placed Florida State on four years' probation, cut 19 athletic scholarships and ordered the school to vacate victories by 10 teams (different sports) whose student-athletes were involved. The winningest coach in college football history was stripped of 14 wins.
The NCAA found no evidence that Bowden and other Florida State coaches played a role in the scandal or knew that cheating was occurring.
10. Hardball for Softball
It’s not just football and basketball teams that get in trouble with the NCAA and are forced to vacate wins. The UCLA softball team broke enough rules during its 1995 national championship run to result in the NCAA vacating the title and putting the entire UCLA athletic program on a three-year probation.
UCLA’s star pitcher that season was Australian Tanya Harding, who went 17-1 and pitched all four Women's College World Series victories for the Bruins. Harding was only at UCLA from mid-season until the end of the postseason, returning to Australia without completing even one quarter of schoolwork.
As bad as that may sound, the true reason for the punishment was for scholarship violations. Three softball players (possibly Harding, although the players were never identified) were awarded soccer scholarships, putting the Bruins over the limit for scholarship players on the softball team.
9. Every Rose Has Its Thorn
The Memphis Tigers' 2008 basketball team was just a few missed foul shots from having its first NCAA championship in history. But Memphis lost to Kansas in overtime, meaning the NCAA only vacated Memphis’ NCAA-record 38 wins and trip to the championship game from 2008, among other punishments.
Memphis was sanctioned due to a series of violations, the most egregious of which being that its freshman star point guard, Derrick Rose, was retroactively ruled ineligible to play because of an allegedly fraudulent SAT score. The NCAA believed that Rose knowingly let another person take his SAT, thus making him academically ineligible. Memphis also was charged with providing Rose’s brother with under $2,000 in travel expenses. In addition to vacating the wins and removing the banners from the season’s accomplishments, the Tigers also had to return their $615,000 in revenue from the NCAA Tournament.
8. The Fall of Troy (USC)
Talk of violations involving Bush surfaced just before the 2006 NFL Draft, prompting an investigation. Despite the fact that Bush denied any improprieties, it wasn’t long before a series of allegations began to come out. In 2007, sports agent Lloyd Lake sued Bush and his family for not repaying him close to $300,000 in gifts, and soon decided to offer his cooperation with the NCAA’s investigation. This past June the NCAA announced major sanctions against USC after finding the school lacking institutional control. The sanctions also involved violations committed by former basketball player O.J. Mayo and the women’s tennis team.
As a result, USC has been placed on four years of probation, its football team received a two-year postseason ban, with a reduction of a jaw-dropping 30 scholarships over the next three years, and has been forced to vacate 13 victories from 2004-05. The school was ordered to disassociate itself from Bush and has since done so, including removing a replica of his 2005 Heisman Trophy from display. Athletic Director Mike Garrett was also a casualty of these severe sanctions, as he is to be replaced by Pat Haden.
But in two areas, USC fell woefully short in a way that affected the final sanctions. The school remained stubbornly silent and did not act preemptively when accusations became public. The Trojans were, in quick succession, dismissive, secretive, combative and egotistical.
• Within USC’s athletics department, a key early media report that alleged star tailback Reggie Bush had a relationship with an agent was considered “sensationalistic,” the NCAA stated. Even limited inquiries were not undertaken.
• School officials waited more than two years after accusations surfaced to contact would-be sports marketer Lloyd Lake, who said he had given Bush cash and other perks while Bush played at USC.
• Instead of refuting Lake’s evidence, USC painted him—perhaps the key figure in this case—as a convicted felon who couldn’t be trusted.
But one area that made USC stand out from almost all other schools that have faced allegations of scandal was its astonishing silence from the start.
In USC’s case, taking action early might have helped significantly because, as the NCAA’s public report shows, the association’s enforcement staff didn’t find in its four-year investigation a considerable amount of hard evidence to prove USC knew about the alleged benefits.
In fact, following USC’s three-day February hearing before the infractions committee in Arizona, USC officials were even confident the NCAA didn’t have the smoking gun needed to hit the program hard.
How wrong they were. The NCAA infractions committee decided to punish the program heavily based not just on what USC knew but what it considered USC should have known. And as NCAA bylaw 32.8.8.2 states, it had the right to do so: The committee can base its decision on information it determines“credible, persuasive and of a kind on which reasonably prudent persons rely in the conduct of serious affairs.”
With the opinion that USC “failed to heed clear warning signs” and that the campus environment itself was conducive to violations, the NCAA handed down massive sanctions against USC football: a two-year postseason ban, four years’ probation, 30 scholarship losses and 14 vacated wins. It cited the university for a “lack of institutional control.”
7. A Hurricane of a Mess
In the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Miami was the most successful football programs in the nation. But rumors were constantly flying regarding a variety of violations. After the 1994 season, the 'Canes received a one-year bowl ban and a loss of 31 scholarships. What they were caught for was damning enough, but the allegations of other illegal activities going on were even worse.
They were nailed for a huge financial-aid policy scam, improper implementation of the drug testing program and the NCAA also deemed that the university had lost institutional control. A total of 57 players were given excess financial aid, which the feds called, “perhaps the largest centralized fraud upon the federal Pell Grant program ever committed.” Three players were permitted to play after testing positive for illegal substances. And as for that lack of institutional control? Here are just some of the allegations against the program:
- Players were paid for not only touchdowns but also vicious hits.
- Players were invited to drink with coaches.
- They even smoked marijuana with a secretary in the football office.
- Recruits were invited to clubs where alcohol and drugs were provided.
They enjoyed many of the benefits of being a Hurricane until the NCAA came down hard on the program and The “U” began a decline that lasted until the end of the decade.
6. Ethical Wasteland in Norman
Barry Switzer was known for running a loose ship. He wanted to be his players' friend and not a disciplinarian. Eventually, that cavalier attitude cost Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners.
Switzer coached the Sooners for 16 seasons, compiling a 157-29-4 record while winning three national championships. But his run came to an end during the summer of 1989 when he resigned following a myriad of scandals that plagued his team.
Rick Telander wrote a cover story for Sports Illustrated titled, “You Reap What You Sow,” in which he outlined the many problems at the university and calls the Oklahoma football program an “ethical wasteland.”
During a one-month span in early 1989, three players were arraigned on rape charges, one player was shot by another, and OU's quarterback was caught selling cocaine to an undercover FBI agent. And that all happened after the NCAA placed the football team on three years' probation for “major violations,” including supplying players with airline tickets and offering gifts to recruits.
Oklahoma was lucky to avoid the death penalty, but the football program went into a tailspin after Switzer resigned on June 19, 1989.
11. The Noles Sing
The NCAA came down hard on Florida State for academic fraud that involved a total of 61 athletes who allegedly cheated on an online music course exam.
The NCAA placed Florida State on four years' probation, cut 19 athletic scholarships and ordered the school to vacate victories by 10 teams (different sports) whose student-athletes were involved. The winningest coach in college football history was stripped of 14 wins.
The NCAA found no evidence that Bowden and other Florida State coaches played a role in the scandal or knew that cheating was occurring.
The NCAA came down hard on Florida State for academic fraud that involved a total of 61 athletes who allegedly cheated on an online music course exam.
The NCAA placed Florida State on four years' probation, cut 19 athletic scholarships and ordered the school to vacate victories by 10 teams (different sports) whose student-athletes were involved. The winningest coach in college football history was stripped of 14 wins.
The NCAA found no evidence that Bowden and other Florida State coaches played a role in the scandal or knew that cheating was occurring.
10. Hardball for Softball
It’s not just football and basketball teams that get in trouble with the NCAA and are forced to vacate wins. The UCLA softball team broke enough rules during its 1995 national championship run to result in the NCAA vacating the title and putting the entire UCLA athletic program on a three-year probation.
UCLA’s star pitcher that season was Australian Tanya Harding, who went 17-1 and pitched all four Women's College World Series victories for the Bruins. Harding was only at UCLA from mid-season until the end of the postseason, returning to Australia without completing even one quarter of schoolwork.
As bad as that may sound, the true reason for the punishment was for scholarship violations. Three softball players (possibly Harding, although the players were never identified) were awarded soccer scholarships, putting the Bruins over the limit for scholarship players on the softball team.
9. Every Rose Has Its Thorn
The Memphis Tigers' 2008 basketball team was just a few missed foul shots from having its first NCAA championship in history. But Memphis lost to Kansas in overtime, meaning the NCAA only vacated Memphis’ NCAA-record 38 wins and trip to the championship game from 2008, among other punishments.
Memphis was sanctioned due to a series of violations, the most egregious of which being that its freshman star point guard, Derrick Rose, was retroactively ruled ineligible to play because of an allegedly fraudulent SAT score. The NCAA believed that Rose knowingly let another person take his SAT, thus making him academically ineligible. Memphis also was charged with providing Rose’s brother with under $2,000 in travel expenses. In addition to vacating the wins and removing the banners from the season’s accomplishments, the Tigers also had to return their $615,000 in revenue from the NCAA Tournament.
8. The Fall of Troy (USC)
Talk of violations involving Bush surfaced just before the 2006 NFL Draft, prompting an investigation. Despite the fact that Bush denied any improprieties, it wasn’t long before a series of allegations began to come out. In 2007, sports agent Lloyd Lake sued Bush and his family for not repaying him close to $300,000 in gifts, and soon decided to offer his cooperation with the NCAA’s investigation. This past June the NCAA announced major sanctions against USC after finding the school lacking institutional control. The sanctions also involved violations committed by former basketball player O.J. Mayo and the women’s tennis team.
As a result, USC has been placed on four years of probation, its football team received a two-year postseason ban, with a reduction of a jaw-dropping 30 scholarships over the next three years, and has been forced to vacate 13 victories from 2004-05. The school was ordered to disassociate itself from Bush and has since done so, including removing a replica of his 2005 Heisman Trophy from display. Athletic Director Mike Garrett was also a casualty of these severe sanctions, as he is to be replaced by Pat Haden.
But in two areas, USC fell woefully short in a way that affected the final sanctions. The school remained stubbornly silent and did not act preemptively when accusations became public. The Trojans were, in quick succession, dismissive, secretive, combative and egotistical.
• Within USC’s athletics department, a key early media report that alleged star tailback Reggie Bush had a relationship with an agent was considered “sensationalistic,” the NCAA stated. Even limited inquiries were not undertaken.
• School officials waited more than two years after accusations surfaced to contact would-be sports marketer Lloyd Lake, who said he had given Bush cash and other perks while Bush played at USC.
• Instead of refuting Lake’s evidence, USC painted him—perhaps the key figure in this case—as a convicted felon who couldn’t be trusted.
But one area that made USC stand out from almost all other schools that have faced allegations of scandal was its astonishing silence from the start.
In USC’s case, taking action early might have helped significantly because, as the NCAA’s public report shows, the association’s enforcement staff didn’t find in its four-year investigation a considerable amount of hard evidence to prove USC knew about the alleged benefits.
In fact, following USC’s three-day February hearing before the infractions committee in Arizona, USC officials were even confident the NCAA didn’t have the smoking gun needed to hit the program hard.
How wrong they were. The NCAA infractions committee decided to punish the program heavily based not just on what USC knew but what it considered USC should have known. And as NCAA bylaw 32.8.8.2 states, it had the right to do so: The committee can base its decision on information it determines“credible, persuasive and of a kind on which reasonably prudent persons rely in the conduct of serious affairs.”
With the opinion that USC “failed to heed clear warning signs” and that the campus environment itself was conducive to violations, the NCAA handed down massive sanctions against USC football: a two-year postseason ban, four years’ probation, 30 scholarship losses and 14 vacated wins. It cited the university for a “lack of institutional control.”
7. A Hurricane of a Mess
In the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Miami was the most successful football programs in the nation. But rumors were constantly flying regarding a variety of violations. After the 1994 season, the 'Canes received a one-year bowl ban and a loss of 31 scholarships. What they were caught for was damning enough, but the allegations of other illegal activities going on were even worse.
They were nailed for a huge financial-aid policy scam, improper implementation of the drug testing program and the NCAA also deemed that the university had lost institutional control. A total of 57 players were given excess financial aid, which the feds called, “perhaps the largest centralized fraud upon the federal Pell Grant program ever committed.” Three players were permitted to play after testing positive for illegal substances. And as for that lack of institutional control? Here are just some of the allegations against the program:
- Players were paid for not only touchdowns but also vicious hits.
- Players were invited to drink with coaches.
- They even smoked marijuana with a secretary in the football office.
- Recruits were invited to clubs where alcohol and drugs were provided.
They enjoyed many of the benefits of being a Hurricane until the NCAA came down hard on the program and The “U” began a decline that lasted until the end of the decade.
6. Ethical Wasteland in Norman
Barry Switzer was known for running a loose ship. He wanted to be his players' friend and not a disciplinarian. Eventually, that cavalier attitude cost Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners.
Switzer coached the Sooners for 16 seasons, compiling a 157-29-4 record while winning three national championships. But his run came to an end during the summer of 1989 when he resigned following a myriad of scandals that plagued his team.
Rick Telander wrote a cover story for Sports Illustrated titled, “You Reap What You Sow,” in which he outlined the many problems at the university and calls the Oklahoma football program an “ethical wasteland.”
During a one-month span in early 1989, three players were arraigned on rape charges, one player was shot by another, and OU's quarterback was caught selling cocaine to an undercover FBI agent. And that all happened after the NCAA placed the football team on three years' probation for “major violations,” including supplying players with airline tickets and offering gifts to recruits.
Oklahoma was lucky to avoid the death penalty, but the football program went into a tailspin after Switzer resigned on June 19, 1989.
