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Probation talk casts shadow

Alabama and Kentucky are the latest SEC schools bracing to be stricken by the NCAA hammer for rules violations.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 3, 2001

HOOVER, Ala. -- In collegiate athletic circles, the Southeastern Conference often is thought of as the bully on the block, the conference that boastfully dominates sports, year in and year out.

But in recent years, it's the SEC that has been hit and suffered black eyes -- in the form of NCAA violations and sanctions.

More than half of the league's 12 teams have had campus visits from collegiate athletics' governing body in the past decade.

This fall, two more SEC teams will stand in front of the NCAA's sanctions committee to face serious allegations.

The coaches and players from those two schools -- Alabama and Kentucky -- arrived in Birmingham on Thursday to talk about their upcoming seasons at the SEC Media Days.

Inevitably, the conversations included talk about problems with the NCAA.

Kentucky and Alabama self-reported incidents in which athletes allegedly received money from either inside or outside the athletic department.

First-year Kentucky coach Guy Morriss admitted that taking over a program under an NCAA investigation isn't the ideal situation.

"Obviously you'd like to have gotten the job under better circumstances," Morriss said. ". . .It's been challenging. I think we're on the right track to get this thing back in the right direction. We've got the right plan, I think. Time will tell."

Morriss said UK's future likely will be determined in September, when the NCAA infractions committee is scheduled to meet. Alabama is not even on the calendar to be heard and likely won't know its future until after the current season is completed. The Tide has been hit with probation twice in the past decade.

"I think what we have to do as coaches and they have to do as players is stay focused on what we can control," first-year Alabama coach Dennis Franchione said. "We do not have any control of that right now, but we do have control of our preparation and how we handle the season. We have to stay focused on that."

The question looming is how big of a bite the NCAA will take out of the two schools. Morriss said Kentucky has "a pretty good idea" what type sanctions it is facing.

SEC commissioner Roy Kramer said the league isn't any worse than others around the country.

"We don't have any more (rule violations) than anybody else," Kramer said. "We've got two that have significant major investigations going on at this time. They're both being addressed the way they should be, by the university in a very strong, positive way and I'm very confident that those universities will handle those situations as they should."

First-year Kentucky athletic director Larry Ivy fired coach Hal Mumme after reports circulated about major recruiting violations. Former Kentucky recruiting coordinator Claude Bassett has admitted that he committed NCAA violations when he sent $1,400 in money orders to a Memphis high school football coach.

Ivy has implemented self-penalties that include reduced scholarships and cuts in road recruiting and official visits, hoping that the NCAA won't make it worse.

"It's something you don't look forward to having to do but we felt like we handled it the right way," Ivy said.

Alabama's problems also are centered on recruiting, including allegations that a high school coach was paid $200,000 to help get tackle Albert Means to Tuscaloosa last season.

South Carolina coach Lou Holtz said this week the Gamecocks have reported three or four incidents to the league he thought were possible violations. Florida coach Steve Spurrier said Wednesday there is concern about the league's image.

"I've heard talk there's a perception up North that some of our schools are fudging," Spurrier said. "You'll have to ask Coach Holtz about that because he coached up North and now he's down here. Hopefully, nothing more will happen."

According to Jim McCullough, the SEC associate commissioner in charge of NCAA eligibility and rules violations, league schools self-report between 80 and 100 violations annually. All 12 programs have been sanctioned by the conference, mostly for various minor violations, in the past year.

McCullough estimated about 95 percent of the penalties SEC schools receive from the conference go unreported.

"It's just like your family. You have children, you might penalize your son and your daughter doesn't know about it or vice versa. That's the way the SEC is. We're one big family. We don't tell the other brothers and sisters what we're doing to that one," McCullough said.

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