OU-HSV
8/20/2008, 07:00 PM
I didn't see this posted on yet. Bad news for New Mexico.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3544869
By Graham Watson
ESPN.com
Updated: August 20, 2008, 6:51 PM ET
New Mexico has been placed on three years' probation after the NCAA found its football program guilty of academic fraud during the spring and fall semester of 2004 and '05.
During that time, three members of the coaching staff, two who are no longer with New Mexico, aided four prospective student-athletes and one then-student-athlete to enroll in and improperly obtain course credit from another four-year institution, Fresno Pacific University.
Fresno Pacific is a fully accredited college in California that offers online degrees.
The violations were reported to the NCAA in 2007 and the school had previously placed a self-imposed two-year probation period on the program. New Mexico's head coach Rocky Long was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case and the NCAA did not identify the assistants in the infractions committee's report.
In its report, the infractions committee said course registration materials at Fresno Pacific showed the home addresses for the three UNM recruits as the home address in California of a brother of one former assistant. Coaches' office or cell phone numbers were listed as the recruits' phone numbers. The recruits admitted to NCAA investigators that they "received no course materials and did no work" but received course credit.
The recruits took courses from a Fresno Pacific instructor who was an acquaintance of one of the former UNM assistants.
The infractions committee pointed out that New Mexico was the third school that had major rules violations involving courses from Fresno Pacific.
"All institutions are cautioned that due diligence must be exercised prior to accepting courses from Fresno Pacific for academic credit and athletic eligibility purposes," the committee said in its report.
At Wednesday's news conference, athletic director Paul Krebs said the university fully cooperated with the NCAA during the probe.
"I do think there is some relief that comes with the filing of the report. It allows us to bring closure to what is a sad and embarassing situation for the university," Krebs said.
In accordance with the NCAA's ruling, New Mexico will lose five total scholarships, reducing the total from 85 to 80, and five scholarships that can be handed out in any given year from 25 to 20 for the duration of the probation, which runs through Aug. 19, 2011.
Also:
• New Mexico only can recruit four junior college players who were non-qualifiers coming out of high school instead of the allowed nine.
• The number of paid visits to prospective student-athletes has been reduced each season to 46 for 2008-09, 48 for 2009-10, and 48 for 2010-11. The school also will not be allowed to bank any of its unused visits for the next year.
Long said the penalities will force his program to be more selective in its recruiting. He said he also would keep a tighter rein on his assistants.
Of the two assistants, Long said: "When they're out on the road themselves and doing this sort of thing, they're trying to recruit the best they can. Sometimes you lose sight of what's important. I think they're two great guys who made some serious mistakes."
Although the NCAA did not identify the assistants in the infractions committee's report, the committee did hear from former assistants Lenny Rodriguez and Grady Stretz at a hearing in Albuquerque in April.
Rodriguez, who coached at New Mexico from 1998-2006, is now an assistant at Mount San Antonio College in suburban Los Angeles. Stretz, an assistant from 1998-2005, coaches Arizona State's defensive line.
Stretz's lawyer, James Zeszutek, said no decision had been made whether his client would appeal the penalties to another NCAA panel.
"We are extremely disappointed and frustrated that the committee on infractions refused to look at all the evidence in a fair and equitable way," said Zeszutek.
He pointed out that the correspondence courses were not used by the recruits to gain admission at UNM or another four-year college or for graduation from their two-year schools.
Zeszutek also objected to the NCAA's investigatory methods.
"What they do is take your statement by ambush. The enforcement staff shows up on your door, will not give you the opportunity to look at any documents, look at any phone records. They try to almost force you into a lie and then they can come back and ... charge you with unethical conduct after they put you in that position," he said.
Per the university's initial probation, only six coaches can leave campus to recruit instead of the allotted seven.
Both assistant coaches who were fired yet not named in the NCAA report received a three-year show-cause penalty, which restricts them from on- or off-campus recruiting, camps, and their daily, weekly, and monthly recruiting contact has been limited by half.
Graham Watson covers college football for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3544869
By Graham Watson
ESPN.com
Updated: August 20, 2008, 6:51 PM ET
New Mexico has been placed on three years' probation after the NCAA found its football program guilty of academic fraud during the spring and fall semester of 2004 and '05.
During that time, three members of the coaching staff, two who are no longer with New Mexico, aided four prospective student-athletes and one then-student-athlete to enroll in and improperly obtain course credit from another four-year institution, Fresno Pacific University.
Fresno Pacific is a fully accredited college in California that offers online degrees.
The violations were reported to the NCAA in 2007 and the school had previously placed a self-imposed two-year probation period on the program. New Mexico's head coach Rocky Long was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case and the NCAA did not identify the assistants in the infractions committee's report.
In its report, the infractions committee said course registration materials at Fresno Pacific showed the home addresses for the three UNM recruits as the home address in California of a brother of one former assistant. Coaches' office or cell phone numbers were listed as the recruits' phone numbers. The recruits admitted to NCAA investigators that they "received no course materials and did no work" but received course credit.
The recruits took courses from a Fresno Pacific instructor who was an acquaintance of one of the former UNM assistants.
The infractions committee pointed out that New Mexico was the third school that had major rules violations involving courses from Fresno Pacific.
"All institutions are cautioned that due diligence must be exercised prior to accepting courses from Fresno Pacific for academic credit and athletic eligibility purposes," the committee said in its report.
At Wednesday's news conference, athletic director Paul Krebs said the university fully cooperated with the NCAA during the probe.
"I do think there is some relief that comes with the filing of the report. It allows us to bring closure to what is a sad and embarassing situation for the university," Krebs said.
In accordance with the NCAA's ruling, New Mexico will lose five total scholarships, reducing the total from 85 to 80, and five scholarships that can be handed out in any given year from 25 to 20 for the duration of the probation, which runs through Aug. 19, 2011.
Also:
• New Mexico only can recruit four junior college players who were non-qualifiers coming out of high school instead of the allowed nine.
• The number of paid visits to prospective student-athletes has been reduced each season to 46 for 2008-09, 48 for 2009-10, and 48 for 2010-11. The school also will not be allowed to bank any of its unused visits for the next year.
Long said the penalities will force his program to be more selective in its recruiting. He said he also would keep a tighter rein on his assistants.
Of the two assistants, Long said: "When they're out on the road themselves and doing this sort of thing, they're trying to recruit the best they can. Sometimes you lose sight of what's important. I think they're two great guys who made some serious mistakes."
Although the NCAA did not identify the assistants in the infractions committee's report, the committee did hear from former assistants Lenny Rodriguez and Grady Stretz at a hearing in Albuquerque in April.
Rodriguez, who coached at New Mexico from 1998-2006, is now an assistant at Mount San Antonio College in suburban Los Angeles. Stretz, an assistant from 1998-2005, coaches Arizona State's defensive line.
Stretz's lawyer, James Zeszutek, said no decision had been made whether his client would appeal the penalties to another NCAA panel.
"We are extremely disappointed and frustrated that the committee on infractions refused to look at all the evidence in a fair and equitable way," said Zeszutek.
He pointed out that the correspondence courses were not used by the recruits to gain admission at UNM or another four-year college or for graduation from their two-year schools.
Zeszutek also objected to the NCAA's investigatory methods.
"What they do is take your statement by ambush. The enforcement staff shows up on your door, will not give you the opportunity to look at any documents, look at any phone records. They try to almost force you into a lie and then they can come back and ... charge you with unethical conduct after they put you in that position," he said.
Per the university's initial probation, only six coaches can leave campus to recruit instead of the allotted seven.
Both assistant coaches who were fired yet not named in the NCAA report received a three-year show-cause penalty, which restricts them from on- or off-campus recruiting, camps, and their daily, weekly, and monthly recruiting contact has been limited by half.
Graham Watson covers college football for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.