Article today by David Teel in The Daily Press catches up with a former chair of the NCAA's COI, which will be charged with evaluating UNC's infractions and with handing down sanctions. Interesting perspective. See below or online at: http://www.dailypress.com/dp-spt-teel-column-yeager-unc-20160430-column.html
Former NCAA infractions chair cautions against rash conclusions in UNC case
Tom Yeager doesn't know and declines to speculate why the NCAA's amended notice of allegations against North Carolinadoesn't mention football and men's basketball. But he doesn't believe the jarring change precludes major sanctions against those programs.
Few, if any, understand the complexities of NCAA investigations better than Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association since 1985. He worked on the NCAA's enforcement staff during the 1970s and served on the association's infractions committee from 1997-2006, chairing the panel for three of those years.
In short, he's been prosecutor, judge and jury.
"The committee on infractions is not involved in the investigation or the drafting of allegations," Yeager said. "There's the possibility of adjustments at the hearing. … There will be that check-and-balance. At the hearings stage, it becomes the infractions committee's ownership."
North Carolina's is among the most prolonged, notorious and watched infractions cases in memory.
A 2014 study commissioned by the university found that athletes comprised nearly half of the 3,100 students who took bogus independent-study courses in the African and Afro-American Studies department from 1993-2011. Most of those athletes were football and men's basketball players, and many were directed to the classes by athletic-department counselors who saw inflated grades as an avenue to keep the athletes eligible.
A former AFAM departmental manager, Deborah Crowder, created the courses to help struggling students, especially athletes.
Yeager said were he still on the infractions committee, his primary question would be: "OK, university, are you standing behind what went on in those courses? If the university says yes, then there's probably no infractions case. If they're saying no, then OK, get out the heavy equipment, because we have a real issue here."
North Carolina disowned the classes, and yes, there's an issue. In May 2015, the NCAA sent UNC a notice of allegations (NOA) detailing five rules violations, all of which were deemed Level I, the most severe breaches of conduct.
The AFAM department "created anomalous courses that went unchecked for 18 years," the NCAA enforcement staff wrote. "This allowed (academic support personnel) to use these courses through special arrangements to maintain the eligibility of academically at-risk student athletes, particularly in the sports of football, men's basketball and women's basketball."
Before the NCAA infractions committee could schedule a hearing on those matters, North Carolina reported in August additional violations centering on women's basketball and men's soccer, creating more work for the enforcement staff and delaying judgment.
The NCAA's amended NOA arrived Monday, still charging North Carolina with five Level I violations, including the five-alarm serious "lack of institutional control." Administrators at every level "failed to effectively address the use of these courses by students, including student-athletes," the NCAA wrote.
Moreover, the NCAA cited myriad "aggravating factors," including witnesses' failure to cooperate and previous rules infractions at the school. Not a pretty picture.
But anyone reading the revised NOA couldn't help but notice that football and men's basketball no longer were singled out. The most detailed charges revolved around women's basketball and the actions of an academic counselor, Jan Boxill, who the NCAA says completed course work for women's basketball players.
Also, the amended notice narrows the violations window from the fall of 2002 through 2011 to the fall of 2005 through 2011. That appears to shield the Tar Heels' 2004-05 national men's basketball champions, most of whom majored in AFAM.
Finally, the latest allegations do not portray the courses as an improper benefit, a charge that seemed a stretch since more than 1,000 non-athletes took them.
The first two changes sparked outrage from some media and opposition fans who concluded and/or feared that football and men's basketball will escape major sanctions such as postseason bans, scholarship reductions and vacated victories/championships.
Conspiracy buffs theorize that the NCAA is protecting the Tar Heels' storied men's basketball program. Further, they consider North Carolina's discovery of additional violations last summer an attempt to delay sanctions until after the 2015-16 basketball season, when the Tar Heels obviously were talented and, indeed, reached the NCAA tournament final.
Neither premise works. First, the NCAA has zero reason to absolve any marquee program, witness recent punishments ofPenn State and Southern California football and Syracuse basketball. There's certainly no financial incentive, since NCAA basketball tournament television revenues are guaranteed regardless of who's playing.
As for UNC's purported stalling, no verdict was expected in the original case until February 2016, and had that punishment included a men's basketball postseason ban, it most likely would have been for 2017. More to the point, no party wants this case to end more than the university, which has seen its sterling academic and athletics reputations tarnished beyond recognition during this years-long saga.
Since the NCAA does not comment on current investigations, there's no explaining the differences in the original and amended charges. And unless the infractions committee is forthcoming when it finally levies sanctions, we may never learn what prompted the changes.
But as Yeager said, the NCAA enforcement staff, and especially the 20-member infractions panel, chaired by Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey, know "the whole world is watching." They know probing questions await after their ruling.
Could women's basketball become the scapegoat for systematic academic fraud? Granted, without the power of subpoena, the NCAA may have encountered greater resistance in gathering details related to football and men's basketball, but even UNC acknowledges the scope of what transpired.
Yeager offers this advice: "I think we have to wait and see what the nuances of the whole process are. Simply because women's basketball is the only one named, I'm not so sure everyone else is out of the weeds."
David Teel can be reached at 757-247-4636 or by email at dteel@dailypress.com. For more from Teel, read his blog at dailypress.com/teeltime and follow him at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP.
Former NCAA infractions chair cautions against rash conclusions in UNC case
Tom Yeager doesn't know and declines to speculate why the NCAA's amended notice of allegations against North Carolinadoesn't mention football and men's basketball. But he doesn't believe the jarring change precludes major sanctions against those programs.
Few, if any, understand the complexities of NCAA investigations better than Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association since 1985. He worked on the NCAA's enforcement staff during the 1970s and served on the association's infractions committee from 1997-2006, chairing the panel for three of those years.
In short, he's been prosecutor, judge and jury.
"The committee on infractions is not involved in the investigation or the drafting of allegations," Yeager said. "There's the possibility of adjustments at the hearing. … There will be that check-and-balance. At the hearings stage, it becomes the infractions committee's ownership."
North Carolina's is among the most prolonged, notorious and watched infractions cases in memory.
A 2014 study commissioned by the university found that athletes comprised nearly half of the 3,100 students who took bogus independent-study courses in the African and Afro-American Studies department from 1993-2011. Most of those athletes were football and men's basketball players, and many were directed to the classes by athletic-department counselors who saw inflated grades as an avenue to keep the athletes eligible.
A former AFAM departmental manager, Deborah Crowder, created the courses to help struggling students, especially athletes.
Yeager said were he still on the infractions committee, his primary question would be: "OK, university, are you standing behind what went on in those courses? If the university says yes, then there's probably no infractions case. If they're saying no, then OK, get out the heavy equipment, because we have a real issue here."
North Carolina disowned the classes, and yes, there's an issue. In May 2015, the NCAA sent UNC a notice of allegations (NOA) detailing five rules violations, all of which were deemed Level I, the most severe breaches of conduct.
The AFAM department "created anomalous courses that went unchecked for 18 years," the NCAA enforcement staff wrote. "This allowed (academic support personnel) to use these courses through special arrangements to maintain the eligibility of academically at-risk student athletes, particularly in the sports of football, men's basketball and women's basketball."
Before the NCAA infractions committee could schedule a hearing on those matters, North Carolina reported in August additional violations centering on women's basketball and men's soccer, creating more work for the enforcement staff and delaying judgment.
The NCAA's amended NOA arrived Monday, still charging North Carolina with five Level I violations, including the five-alarm serious "lack of institutional control." Administrators at every level "failed to effectively address the use of these courses by students, including student-athletes," the NCAA wrote.
Moreover, the NCAA cited myriad "aggravating factors," including witnesses' failure to cooperate and previous rules infractions at the school. Not a pretty picture.
But anyone reading the revised NOA couldn't help but notice that football and men's basketball no longer were singled out. The most detailed charges revolved around women's basketball and the actions of an academic counselor, Jan Boxill, who the NCAA says completed course work for women's basketball players.
Also, the amended notice narrows the violations window from the fall of 2002 through 2011 to the fall of 2005 through 2011. That appears to shield the Tar Heels' 2004-05 national men's basketball champions, most of whom majored in AFAM.
Finally, the latest allegations do not portray the courses as an improper benefit, a charge that seemed a stretch since more than 1,000 non-athletes took them.
The first two changes sparked outrage from some media and opposition fans who concluded and/or feared that football and men's basketball will escape major sanctions such as postseason bans, scholarship reductions and vacated victories/championships.
Conspiracy buffs theorize that the NCAA is protecting the Tar Heels' storied men's basketball program. Further, they consider North Carolina's discovery of additional violations last summer an attempt to delay sanctions until after the 2015-16 basketball season, when the Tar Heels obviously were talented and, indeed, reached the NCAA tournament final.
Neither premise works. First, the NCAA has zero reason to absolve any marquee program, witness recent punishments ofPenn State and Southern California football and Syracuse basketball. There's certainly no financial incentive, since NCAA basketball tournament television revenues are guaranteed regardless of who's playing.
As for UNC's purported stalling, no verdict was expected in the original case until February 2016, and had that punishment included a men's basketball postseason ban, it most likely would have been for 2017. More to the point, no party wants this case to end more than the university, which has seen its sterling academic and athletics reputations tarnished beyond recognition during this years-long saga.
Since the NCAA does not comment on current investigations, there's no explaining the differences in the original and amended charges. And unless the infractions committee is forthcoming when it finally levies sanctions, we may never learn what prompted the changes.
But as Yeager said, the NCAA enforcement staff, and especially the 20-member infractions panel, chaired by Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey, know "the whole world is watching." They know probing questions await after their ruling.
Could women's basketball become the scapegoat for systematic academic fraud? Granted, without the power of subpoena, the NCAA may have encountered greater resistance in gathering details related to football and men's basketball, but even UNC acknowledges the scope of what transpired.
Yeager offers this advice: "I think we have to wait and see what the nuances of the whole process are. Simply because women's basketball is the only one named, I'm not so sure everyone else is out of the weeds."
David Teel can be reached at 757-247-4636 or by email at dteel@dailypress.com. For more from Teel, read his blog at dailypress.com/teeltime and follow him at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP.
