Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990 TAG: 9004041029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD. LENGTH: Medium
In announcing the NCAA's decision Wednesday, William E. Kirwan, president of the College Park campus, said he had asked the NCAA Council to hold a special meeting in mid-May to hear Maryland's appeal.
A delay until the next scheduled meeting in August would cause "irreparable harm," to the university, Kirwan said in an April 3 letter to NCAA president Albert Witte.
Kirwan has estimated the sanctions will cost the athletic department more than $3 million over the next two years. He has said cutting some sports may be necessary to make up the difference, a decision that could affect student-athletes in non-moneymaking sports such as lacrosse and field hockey.
In a letter dated March 28, NCAA executive director Richard Schultz said the NCAA Division I Steering Committee's upcoming meeting April 20-22 is too soon to consider the appeal properly and the committee already has a heavy agenda.
After ruling Maryland had committed recruiting violations from 1985 to 1988, the NCAA on March 5 imposed three years probation, a two-year ban on post-season play beginning in 1991, and barred the Terrapins from playing on live television next season. The NCAA Infractions Committee also cut the number of scholarships from 15 to 13 and forced the school to return $407,378 of the money it earned for the team's 1988 NCAA Tournament appearance.
In pushing for a May meeting, Kirwan said an August meeting will force Terrapin basketball players to make their decisions about transferring to another school before they know whether Maryland's appeal is successful. If they transfer before the hearing, and Maryland is successful in its appeal, any player who transferred would be required to sit out a year before playing, Schultz wrote.
"The decision to delay our appeal hearing until August places our student athletes in an untenable situation. They do not deserve this. Although we fervently hope that all of the student athletes will choose to remain at College Park, we owe it to them to do all that we can to clarify their situation," Kirwan said, referring to Schultz's letter.
Maryland was cited for a lack of institutional control that allowed the violations to occur during the three-year tenure of coach Bob Wade. The NCAA investigation, which began a year ago, found a number of violations. Among those considered most damaging were the small cash payments, the leased car and transportation provided to former Terrapin guard Rudy Archer; the false and misleading information given to investigators by Wade and members of his staff; the sale of complimentary Atlantic Coast Conference tickets; and the clothing obtained free or at a great discount for prospective recruits.
Maryland was stunned by the penalties imposed by the NCAA and Kirwan has called them "more severe than our infractions warrant."
The penalties are similar to those levied last May against the men's basketball program at Kentucky. Kentucky was found guilty of violations that included an assistant coach sending $1,000 to a recruit's father and another recruit cheating on an entrance exam.
by CNB