Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 30, 1993 TAG: 9310300089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED SHERMAN CHICAGO TRIBUNE
DATELINE: OVERLAND PARK, KAN. LENGTH: Long
The soon-to-be-former NCAA executive director, a licensed pilot, continues to jet around in an NCAA-leased plane, enduring the same schedule that took him on the road for 200 days a year. The invitations never stop, from schools to a meeting of Division I commissioners, to a meeting of Big Ten Conference officials.
Initially, Schultz wasn't so sure that would be the case. When he resigned in May after being implicated in NCAA rules violations at his old school, Virginia, he gave people a chance to back out of their commitments.
"I thought since I'm not going to be executive director anymore, they may want someone else to come in," said Schultz, who agreed to stay at his post until a successor is named - probably by January. "I gave everyone an opportunity to change their minds. Nobody has done that."
That Schultz continues to be in demand is an indication of the enormous respect association members have for him. However, that Schultz even would wonder whether people would want him is a telling postscript to a directorship whose final landing missed the runway.
Schultz insists it has been "business as usual" since May, but that really isn't the case. If it was business as usual, Schultz's departure would have been trumpeted by countless testimonials and fanfare.
Instead, Schultz, the most powerful figure in college sports, who helped the NCAA achieve unprecedented reforms, is leaving through the side door in a departure clouded by doubts and controversy.
"It's disappointing Dick has to go out like this," said Jim Delany, the Big Ten Commissioner. "I have a lot of respect for Dick. He did a lot for the Big Ten. I have tremendous empathy for him."
Schultz, 64, doesn't seek any sympathy, insisting he is proud of what he has accomplished since taking over the NCAA in 1987.
The achievements are impressive: a $1 billion television contract for the NCAA basketball tournament, academic reform, opening up the secretive NCAA and many more.
"He came in as an athletic director and left as a CEO," said Kit Morris, executive director of the Knight Commission, which championed academic reform. "The remarkable thing, with as many diverse constituencies in the NCAA, Dick was able to make everyone feel like he was their person."
Yet Schultz's legacy has been tainted. The executive director, who preached ethics and tight institutional control of athletic departments, was brought down for failing to keep his old house clean.
"When you build a career doing the right thing, a career based on integrity, it hurts when someone challenges that integrity," Schultz said.
Did Schultz really know what went on in Charlottesville?
These are the facts: During Schultz's tenure as athletic director at Virginia from 1981-1987, Cavaliers athletes received loans from the Virginia Student Aid Foundation. Schultz said he was unaware of the loans, which were against NCAA regulations.
However, three former UVa officials contend Schultz knew of the loans, and eventually ordered them to be stopped. A former football player said Schultz directed him to get a loan, and then the player's mother said Schultz refused to grant the athlete his transfer to another school until he repaid the loan.
The football player and his mother played a major role in the report of James Park Jr., an independent fact-finder the NCAA brought in to investigate Schultz's involvement.
An internal probe by UVa didn't implicate Schultz, but Park judged differently. Park's report disputes Schultz's version that he didn't know. His report was damning, hitting Schultz with the fatal arrow.
It concluded "Schultz had actual knowledge of at least some of the VSAF loans to student-athletes."
When reached this week at his law firm in Louisville, Park declined to discuss the specifics of the report. When asked if it was a difficult decision, Park said, "I've spent the last 10 years making difficult decisions."
Schultz said he was "shocked" when he first saw the report in January. He contends the report is loaded with conflicting statements and memory lapses from key witnesses.
Schultz also says if he had known about the loans, it would have been the easiest thing for him to say so. Currently, there is a rule in which schools have to report violations to the NCAA. Back then, the rule didn't exist.
"All I would have had to say was I stopped the loans and rectified the situation," Schultz said. "I was not aware of anything illegal going on."
Despite the denials, the damage had been done. Initially, when the report was released, it appeared Schultz would stay on the job. But the media outcry made that impossible.
Schultz says he had complete support from the NCAA's top decision-makers, although the extent of that support is sketchy. According to people close to the NCAA, Schultz had some key detractors who felt he should leave.
The departure was inevitable.
"My concern was that every time we had a major infractions case, somebody would throw something in about this," Schultz said. "Eventually, it would erode the confidence and perception of the NCAA. There was a chance we could lose everything we gained in the last six years."
Schultz makes it seem as if he fell on his sword to save the NCAA.
"After I resigned, I increased my prestige and integrity," he said.
Some administrators within the NCAA structure don't see it that way. Privately, they wish Schultz had gone out quietly, instead of maintaining a high profile.
But Schultz never hears those critics. Trying to find anyone within the NCAA to criticize Schultz publicly is an impossible task.
Support comes from everywhere, even from former Nevada-Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, one of the NCAA's main protagonists.
Delany is indicative of the public sentiment.
"What happened, happened, but I've chosen to give Dick the benefit of the doubt," Delany said. "Dick is a man with a lot of virtue. When people have respect and affection for you, they always are going to come down on your side."
Schultz says he has no plans to retire, hinting he might work as a consultant for universities. Obviously, he wanted to fulfill his contract with the NCAA, which ran through 1995.
Schultz hates the idea of leaving unfinished business.
"You'd rather have everything tidy," he said.
Of his legacy, Schultz says, "I hope they say I made a difference."
Clearly, they will. Schultz will be remembered for the many positives he brought to the NCAA.
But he also will be remembered for the ending, and no matter how valiantly he tries to portray it, it is a stain he won't be able to erase.
by CNB