BleedGopher
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per Dana:
Asked on Friday if Oklahoma State worked with the NCAA in the investigation of its basketball staff, Committee on Infractions chair Larry Parkinson heaped on the praise for the Cowboys’ athletic department. “The institution fully cooperated as soon as they heard about the circumstances,’’ Parkinson said. In fact, he went on to say, proof of just how well Oklahoma State behaved was in the penalties themselves. “Maybe if they had not been, the results would have been different.’’
In other words, Oklahoma State, smacked with three years probation, a $10,000 fine plus 1 percent of its budget, recruiting restrictions, scholarship reductions and, above all else, a one-year postseason ban, got off easy. Feels like that sentence ought to be followed with a “you oughta see the other guy!” quip.
Of course, there are other guys in this case, and odds are they aren’t going to come out of this looking a whole lot better. Oklahoma State is the guinea pig, the first school to meet its NCAA maker in the wake of the FBI investigation into college basketball. Although Parkinson, whose day job is as director of enforcement for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, cautioned not to read too much into any one decision, it’s impossible not to. Kansas Louisville, N.C. State, Arizona, Auburn, USC, South Carolina, LSU and Creighton are all in various stages of the NCAA process, and anyone who reads Oklahoma State’s penalties and comes away thinking their school is safe needs to check the tint on their glasses.
Though the puff and bluster of the FBI’s first news conference two Septembers ago — “We have your playbook!” — never materialized into the chaos or doom and gloom first envisioned, the NCAA now has said playbook and is crafting its out-of-bounds play. It’s not likely to end in a turnover. The notices of allegations already received and made public at other schools offered the promise of harsh action. The Oklahoma State decision removes any doubt. Schools are going to be hit, and hit hard. A one-year postseason ban, in fact, might seem gentle down the road.
Louisville, which not only cooperated with the investigation but also fired everyone associated with it, was charged with one Level I violation and a host of aggravating circumstances. After reading the allegations, one source familiar with NCAA investigations told me he couldn’t envision a scenario where the Cardinals weren’t hit with a multi-year postseason ban. N.C. State cooperated as well, but got to such loggerheads with the NCAA, it opted for the new Independent Accountability Resolution Process, the new group meant to adjudicate complex cases.
In the meantime, Kansas and Arizona have all but drawn a line in the sand, staunchly standing by their coaches and calling out the NCAA for what they contend are unfair accusations. That worked for North Carolina, which went toe-to-toe with the NCAA on a lengthy academic fraud case. But the Tar Heels didn’t have to contend with a federal investigation, court documents, or in the case of Arizona, a jailed assistant coach. In discussing the Oklahoma State case, Parkinson made it abundantly clear that the court cases make the NCAA investigations rather easy. “In a criminal proceeding with a high burden of proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, and an individual who accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty, it was not difficult for us, in this case, to give significant weight to those particular facts that he agreed to,” he said.
Maybe the IARP, which will hear the cases of Louisville, Kansas and N.C. State, will see things differently. Consisting of professionals who make mediation their career, the IARP, in theory, could offer a fresh take on NCAA penalties, and perhaps be more lenient than the stiff directives the COI seems to be following. That’s the idea at least: a fresh set of eyeballs. But as one source told me when asked about the odds of the IARP ruling differently: “They’re still trained by the NCAA, and working for the NCAA.’’ And unlike Oklahoma State, which already has said it will appeal what it labeled “severe” penalties, the schools that opt for the complex case route waive their right to an appeal. Every decision is final. Then again, if you’re going to get hit with the book anyway, what do you have to lose?
theathletic.com
Go Gophers!!
Asked on Friday if Oklahoma State worked with the NCAA in the investigation of its basketball staff, Committee on Infractions chair Larry Parkinson heaped on the praise for the Cowboys’ athletic department. “The institution fully cooperated as soon as they heard about the circumstances,’’ Parkinson said. In fact, he went on to say, proof of just how well Oklahoma State behaved was in the penalties themselves. “Maybe if they had not been, the results would have been different.’’
In other words, Oklahoma State, smacked with three years probation, a $10,000 fine plus 1 percent of its budget, recruiting restrictions, scholarship reductions and, above all else, a one-year postseason ban, got off easy. Feels like that sentence ought to be followed with a “you oughta see the other guy!” quip.
Of course, there are other guys in this case, and odds are they aren’t going to come out of this looking a whole lot better. Oklahoma State is the guinea pig, the first school to meet its NCAA maker in the wake of the FBI investigation into college basketball. Although Parkinson, whose day job is as director of enforcement for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, cautioned not to read too much into any one decision, it’s impossible not to. Kansas Louisville, N.C. State, Arizona, Auburn, USC, South Carolina, LSU and Creighton are all in various stages of the NCAA process, and anyone who reads Oklahoma State’s penalties and comes away thinking their school is safe needs to check the tint on their glasses.
Though the puff and bluster of the FBI’s first news conference two Septembers ago — “We have your playbook!” — never materialized into the chaos or doom and gloom first envisioned, the NCAA now has said playbook and is crafting its out-of-bounds play. It’s not likely to end in a turnover. The notices of allegations already received and made public at other schools offered the promise of harsh action. The Oklahoma State decision removes any doubt. Schools are going to be hit, and hit hard. A one-year postseason ban, in fact, might seem gentle down the road.
Louisville, which not only cooperated with the investigation but also fired everyone associated with it, was charged with one Level I violation and a host of aggravating circumstances. After reading the allegations, one source familiar with NCAA investigations told me he couldn’t envision a scenario where the Cardinals weren’t hit with a multi-year postseason ban. N.C. State cooperated as well, but got to such loggerheads with the NCAA, it opted for the new Independent Accountability Resolution Process, the new group meant to adjudicate complex cases.
In the meantime, Kansas and Arizona have all but drawn a line in the sand, staunchly standing by their coaches and calling out the NCAA for what they contend are unfair accusations. That worked for North Carolina, which went toe-to-toe with the NCAA on a lengthy academic fraud case. But the Tar Heels didn’t have to contend with a federal investigation, court documents, or in the case of Arizona, a jailed assistant coach. In discussing the Oklahoma State case, Parkinson made it abundantly clear that the court cases make the NCAA investigations rather easy. “In a criminal proceeding with a high burden of proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, and an individual who accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty, it was not difficult for us, in this case, to give significant weight to those particular facts that he agreed to,” he said.
Maybe the IARP, which will hear the cases of Louisville, Kansas and N.C. State, will see things differently. Consisting of professionals who make mediation their career, the IARP, in theory, could offer a fresh take on NCAA penalties, and perhaps be more lenient than the stiff directives the COI seems to be following. That’s the idea at least: a fresh set of eyeballs. But as one source told me when asked about the odds of the IARP ruling differently: “They’re still trained by the NCAA, and working for the NCAA.’’ And unlike Oklahoma State, which already has said it will appeal what it labeled “severe” penalties, the schools that opt for the complex case route waive their right to an appeal. Every decision is final. Then again, if you’re going to get hit with the book anyway, what do you have to lose?
O’Neil: Bad news for Oklahoma State is worse for others involved in NCAA cases
Despite full cooperation, the Cowboys got a one-year postseason ban for one Level I violation involving a former assistant.
Go Gophers!!
