NCAA UPHOLDS SANCTIONS AGAINST ALABAMA
Sep 17, 2002
from ESPN.com
Associated Press
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The NCAA rejected Alabama's request that it ease
sanctions against the football program on Tuesday.
Kentucky denied too
Alabama sought restoration of six scholarships and its bowl eligibility
but the appeals committee upheld all the penalties imposed after the program
was cited for illegal recruiting by boosters and other infractions.
The appeals report stated that the penalties were appropriate "because
the violations in this case were numerous and particularly egregious.''
"But for the unequivocal cooperation of the university, it's
very clear the death penalty most probably would have been imposed,''
said Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips, chairman of the Division
I Infractions Appeals Committee.
Interim Alabama President J. Barry Mason said university officials "disagree
and are disappointed'' with the decision.
In a statement, Mason said the university's arguments for relief "were
grounded in fact and well presented both in writing and in our meeting
with the appeals committee last month.''
"Through this adversity, we will move forward and become stronger
than ever,'' athletic director Mal Moore said.
The NCAA placed Alabama on five years' probation on Feb. 1, tacking
on six scholarship cuts to the university's self-imposed reduction
of 15, and banning the team from participating in a bowl game for two years.
The infractions committee cited Alabama for illegal recruiting practices
by boosters, with chairman Thomas Yeager saying the panel considered the
so-called "death penalty'' which would shut down the program
for at least one season.
The university also contended that the committee wrongly used the testimony
of a secret witness in punishing "a blameless, indeed exemplary,
institution.''
The secret witness told the NCAA enforcement staff in March 2000 about
an Alabama booster's involvement in the recruitment of defensive lineman
Kenny Smith in 1995 and 1996.
Under NCAA policy, no names have been released, but case details appeared
to indicate that the witness is an Alabama employee.
Alabama said the testimony of the secret witness was permissible only
as background information about illegal actions of a booster in the recruitment
of lineman Albert Means in 2000.
The university said the NCAA wrongly used the secret witness to get around
a four-year time limit that would have barred the Smith case from even
being considered.