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NCAA puts school on probation through 2010
Associated Press
Baylor escaped the so-called death penalty but will have to play one shortened men's basketball season and remain on probation through 2010, the NCAA said Thursday in releasing the findings of its investigation into former coach Dave Bliss' scandal-plagued program. Gene Marsh, chair of the Division I Committee on Infractions and a professor of law at the University of Alabama, said he believes it is the first time the NCAA has instituted a partial ban on games in basketball. He said the committee seriously considered shutting down Baylor's program but that self-imposed sanctions in the wake of the revelations spared the Waco school. "As a repeat violator, they were subject to the death penalty," Marsh said. "Their penalties and their approach saved their basketball season." Baylor was considered a repeat offender because the tennis program received sanctions in 2000 for improper financial aid and extra benefits. The NCAA has used the death penalty only once -- on the SMU football program in the late 1980s.
The NCAA gave Baylor the option of canceling its non-conference schedule, usually about 15 games a year, this season or next. Baylor's interim president, William D. Underwood, said the Bears would play the shortened season this year. The Bears will be allowed to play the Big 12 Conference regular season and postseason tournament. Although the team will be eligible for NCAA postseason play, it will be difficult to gain enough wins to make the NCAA or NIT tournaments without non-conference games.
Last week, Carlton Dotson, 23, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in the death of Patrick Dennehy, a killing that led to revelations of wrongdoing in Baylor's program. Dennehy was missing for six weeks before his body was found in July 2003 in a field where the best friends had gone to shoot guns at targets. By August, Bliss and athletic director Tom Stanton had resigned in the wake of numerous allegations of NCAA violations. School investigators later discovered that Bliss paid up to $40,000 in tuition for two players and improperly solicited $87,000 from Baylor boosters. The probe also revealed that staff members did not properly report some players' failed drug tests. The infractions led to self-imposed sanctions, including a three-year probation, reduced scholarships and reduced contact between coaches and recruits. The school also banned itself from postseason play in the 2003-2004 season, and all players were offered a release from their scholarships. The NCAA adopted many of Baylor's self-imposed sanctions with Thursday's ruling, although Baylor's reductions in recruiting visits and coaches who can leave campus to recruit were extended by a year.
"This is the final step in bringing a two-year scandal to a close for the university," Underwood said. "It will never close for some individuals, including the Patrick Dennehy family and the Carlton Dotson family, but this is the final piece in moving beyond the scandal." The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions found intentional violations by coaches and attempts to cover up those violations. That led to a conclusion of unethical conduct by Bliss and three former assistants. Any NCAA school that wants to hire Bliss in the next 10 years must appear before the Committee on Infractions to determine limitations on his activities. One former assistant will be subject to this procedure for seven years and two others for five years. "He attempted to try to cover up what had occurred to the point of making people practice and record their statements like in a high school play," Marsh said of Bliss. "It's about as bad as it gets." Marsh said Baylor's violations were "as serious" as those in the SMU football program when the Dallas school received the death penalty. The scandal is the second to rock the basketball program in the last decade.
In 1994, Baylor reduced scholarships, banned itself from postseason play and television appearances and placed itself under a two-year probation after a recruiting and academic fraud scandal under former coach Darrel Johnson. The NCAA's findings also revealed academic fraud by three Baylor football players.
NCAA puts school on probation through 2010
Associated Press
Baylor escaped the so-called death penalty but will have to play one shortened men's basketball season and remain on probation through 2010, the NCAA said Thursday in releasing the findings of its investigation into former coach Dave Bliss' scandal-plagued program. Gene Marsh, chair of the Division I Committee on Infractions and a professor of law at the University of Alabama, said he believes it is the first time the NCAA has instituted a partial ban on games in basketball. He said the committee seriously considered shutting down Baylor's program but that self-imposed sanctions in the wake of the revelations spared the Waco school. "As a repeat violator, they were subject to the death penalty," Marsh said. "Their penalties and their approach saved their basketball season." Baylor was considered a repeat offender because the tennis program received sanctions in 2000 for improper financial aid and extra benefits. The NCAA has used the death penalty only once -- on the SMU football program in the late 1980s.
The NCAA gave Baylor the option of canceling its non-conference schedule, usually about 15 games a year, this season or next. Baylor's interim president, William D. Underwood, said the Bears would play the shortened season this year. The Bears will be allowed to play the Big 12 Conference regular season and postseason tournament. Although the team will be eligible for NCAA postseason play, it will be difficult to gain enough wins to make the NCAA or NIT tournaments without non-conference games.
Last week, Carlton Dotson, 23, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in the death of Patrick Dennehy, a killing that led to revelations of wrongdoing in Baylor's program. Dennehy was missing for six weeks before his body was found in July 2003 in a field where the best friends had gone to shoot guns at targets. By August, Bliss and athletic director Tom Stanton had resigned in the wake of numerous allegations of NCAA violations. School investigators later discovered that Bliss paid up to $40,000 in tuition for two players and improperly solicited $87,000 from Baylor boosters. The probe also revealed that staff members did not properly report some players' failed drug tests. The infractions led to self-imposed sanctions, including a three-year probation, reduced scholarships and reduced contact between coaches and recruits. The school also banned itself from postseason play in the 2003-2004 season, and all players were offered a release from their scholarships. The NCAA adopted many of Baylor's self-imposed sanctions with Thursday's ruling, although Baylor's reductions in recruiting visits and coaches who can leave campus to recruit were extended by a year.
"This is the final step in bringing a two-year scandal to a close for the university," Underwood said. "It will never close for some individuals, including the Patrick Dennehy family and the Carlton Dotson family, but this is the final piece in moving beyond the scandal." The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions found intentional violations by coaches and attempts to cover up those violations. That led to a conclusion of unethical conduct by Bliss and three former assistants. Any NCAA school that wants to hire Bliss in the next 10 years must appear before the Committee on Infractions to determine limitations on his activities. One former assistant will be subject to this procedure for seven years and two others for five years. "He attempted to try to cover up what had occurred to the point of making people practice and record their statements like in a high school play," Marsh said of Bliss. "It's about as bad as it gets." Marsh said Baylor's violations were "as serious" as those in the SMU football program when the Dallas school received the death penalty. The scandal is the second to rock the basketball program in the last decade.
In 1994, Baylor reduced scholarships, banned itself from postseason play and television appearances and placed itself under a two-year probation after a recruiting and academic fraud scandal under former coach Darrel Johnson. The NCAA's findings also revealed academic fraud by three Baylor football players.
