The penalties imposed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association will not have serious, adverse effects on the Nicholls athletic program this upcoming season, Rob Bernardi, athletic director, said.”Folks seem a little confused. We are only suffering the loss of scholarship in one sport for one year,” Bernardi said. “The probation is simply a reporting period.”
Penalties issued by the NCAA include: four years of probation, exclusion from the Southland Conference television package for the upcoming football and men’s basketball seasons and the loss of one men’s basketball scholarship for the 2005-06 academic year. Through the 2007-08 academic year, the football program must delay preseason practice by three days, reduce off-campus recruiting by seven days and reduce the number of official visits by five.
The volleyball team must vacate the 2003 Southland Conference championship and all wins in 2003 in which the ineligible student played. The football team must also vacate wins from the 2003-04 season when an ineligible student competed. The University was also fined $10,000 for the ineligible student-athlete’s participation in the first round of the 2003 NCAA volleyball championship.
Stephen Hulbert, University president, said in a press conference May 10, that all of the penalties, except a fourth year of probation and the forfeiture of the football wins, were self-imposed by Nicholls.
“Nicholls is guilty of the findings, and we will hold ourselves accountable,” Hulbert said. “The penalties could have been much more punitive. Obviously, they didn’t see the need to punish the team and individuals not involved.”
Bernardi said, “The real story that hasn’t been covered is the penalties that were imposed on the former staff members involved. In my years as an athletic director, I’ve never seen an eight-year penalty imposed on a coach.”
Former assistant football coach Jeff Richards, who was fired in August, must appear before the NCAA if he seeks employment or affiliation in an athletic position at another institution in the next eight years. Former academic adviser Jenny Thompson must appear before the NCAA if seeking a position in the next six years and former men’s basketball coach, Ricky Blanton, who resigned in October, is subject to similar provisions for the next five years. The institution where each plans to work would also have to appear before the NCAA.
Hulbert said to his knowledge none of the 28 student-athletes involved regained eligibility for this year. The majority were deemed ineligible for two to three years in addition to last year depending on the individual’s involvement.
Additionally, the NCAA indicated that no more than 60 scholarships per year in 2005-06 and 2006-07 football seasons could be awarded; however, Bernardi said Nicholls does not typically award more than 60 football scholarships. Nicholls is usually allowed 13 scholarships in men’s basketball. However, he said Nicholls has not funded 13 scholarships in the past few years.
According to the report, the violations, which took place in August 2003 and spring 2004, involved “providing answers to lesson assignments and exams, falsifying academic documents and attempting to cover up the fraud. Those attempts included lying about the fraud and asking others, including high-school coaches who were falsely listed as proctors and the student-athletes themselves, to lie as well. The fraud also involved falsely listing as course proctors individuals who did no more than receive the course materials by mail and pass them to the former coaches and adviser.”
According to the report, another assistant football coach lied about the circumstances of the correspondences courses and was issued a letter of reprimand. Bernardi said the name of that coach has not been released and would not indicate whether that individual was still employed at Nicholls.
“The NCAA investigation is definitely something we are not proud of, but the community should be comforted in knowing the University is committed to running a clean athletics program,” he said.
