Getting tough: NCAA’s harsher penalties could become new norm for rule-breakers

NCAA could make harsh penalties the new norm

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA is finally backing up its tough talk.

By penalizing Southern California’s football program with the loss of 30 scholarships and a two-year postseason ban, the committee on infractions sent a clear message to programs and coaches willing to win at any cost: Learn from the Trojans’ mistakes or face a stiff penalty.

“The real issue here is if you have high-profile players, your enforcement staff has to monitor those students at a higher level,” committee chairman Paul Dee said. “So high-profile players demand high-profile compliance.”

Some were surprised the NCAA relinquished the kinder, gentler image it had under the late president Myles Brand and reverted to a more old-school approach in deciding the Southern Cal case.

Until Thursday, no Football Bowl Subdivision school had been prohibited from postseason play since Alabama completed its two-year bowl ban in 2003, and no team has been given a television ban since 1996.

The Trojans nearly got both.

Those who follow the NCAA’s moves closely should have seen this coming.

In the big-money sports world, critics increasingly labeled the NCAA as too soft on rule-breakers. So in October 2008, the committee on infractions recommended imposing postseason and TV bans — punishments that were never scrubbed from the books.

“Some time ago, we moved away from television bans because we felt that impacted sister institutions rather than the guilty party,” Division I vice president David Berst said then. “It believed there were other ways to impose penalties that were just as meaningful. Now, the committee believes it may be appropriate.”

Other recommendations from two years ago included publicly naming staff members involved in infractions cases, eliminating the reward for cooperation with NCAA investigators and imposing fines. Since then, NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said, the recommendations have been sent to schools for comment. The Board of Directors has not acted on those recommendations.

It still didn’t stop the infractions committee from punishing Southern Cal.

Neither Berst nor other full-time NCAA employees were available Friday to discuss whether the latest decision could signal a new trend in how the NCAA deals with violations.

But Thursday’s report went far beyond typical infractions announcements.

Dee acknowledged publicly the committee had considered imposing a television ban on the Trojans — a rare departure for an organization that doesn’t like discussing what could have happened.

And although Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo were not identified by name in the public report, they were singled out as a Heisman Trophy candidate and a one-and-done player. Names or identifying characteristics of individuals are traditionally excluded in the report.

Why the change?

“It was included in part to show how prominent the individuals were in relationship to the university,” Dee explained.

The committee went even further.

Among some of the overlooked penalties, Southern Cal must dissociate itself from Bush and Mayo and keep some of the Trojans’ most prominent fans, such as actor Will Ferrell, off the sidelines — a tough hit in a glitzy town.

Southern Cal officials thought the sanctions went too far.

“I take the same stance as our university,” new Trojans football coach Lane Kiffin said. “There is some guilt, but the punishment is too severe.”

Coaches had better get used to it.

— The New York Times reported last month that the NCAA is looking into the academic history of former Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe. The school claims Bledsoe passed an extensive review process by the NCAA, and Bledsoe is now headed to the NBA after one college season. Kentucky has won more basketball games than any other Division I program, and Wildcats coach John Calipari has twice had to vacate Final Four appearances at other schools.

— Michigan has an August hearing in front of the infractions committee for five major infractions in the football program. The Wolverines have already admitted to making mistakes and have self-imposed some penalties, hoping the NCAA doesn’t hit them any harder. Michigan has won more football games than any other Division I school.

— Oklahoma officials said last month they had shared phone records with the NCAA showing former assistant coach Oronde Taliaferro made contact with Jeffrey Hausinger, a Tampa, Fla.-based financial representative who reportedly wired $3,000 to former Sooners center Keith “Tiny” Gallon and his mother. The NCAA has issued a statement indicating Gallon had not complied with its requests for cooperation.

Southern Cal’s case was different.

The Trojans had two prominent athletes in the two biggest money-making sports receiving impermissible benefits, so there was little doubt Southern Cal would get hit hard.

“We try to impose penalties in most cases that deal directly with the institution,” Dee said. “To be sure, some of the penalties are punitive. … The committee believed this was a very serious case and dealt very seriously with the sanctions that were imposed.”

The message to other schools is simple: Follow the rules, especially when it comes to big-time players.

“I think what you have to consider is that if somebody was a fourth-round draft pick, none of this would have happened,” Dee said. “We want all those people involved that could cause a violation, create a violation or make a violation to understand that whenever someone breaks a rule, that it (a ban) can be imposed.”