NCAA President Miles Brand Has Died

From USAToday,

Brand died Wednesday afternoon at age 67, ending a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer and an NCAA tenure that began in January 2003.

Who, oh who, might replace him?

Speculation on a potential successor falls on Adams and includes a number of university presidents and chancellors: Graham Spanier of Penn State, Mary Sue Coleman of Michigan and Walt Harrison of Hartford, who has been instrumental in drawing up the series of academic measures. Franklin also has been mentioned.

Oh, please,please, please,  let it be Graham. He'd love the job. And we love to see him go. Let him work his magic elsewhere.

Technorati Tags: Penn State, Spanier, Miles Brand, NCAA

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Freedom of Information Act & UConn's Self Reported Violations

Dave Altimari of the Hartford Courant recently made a Freedom of Information Request to discover UConn's self-reported violations for its big three sports teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, and football. Interestingly, despite the various scandals of the school -- most notably the scandal involving recruit basketball recruit Nate Miles and UConn student-manager-turned agent Josh Nochimson -- UConn only reported 17 minor infractions involving those teams over the last five years.

Altimari interviewed me for the story and here is an excerpt with my comments:

* * *

The self-reported cases, known as secondary violations, normally don't end up putting schools on probation or costing athletes eligibility. But the 61 pages of documents obtained by The Courant through a Freedom of Information request provide a window into how a big-time athletic department polices itself.

At UConn, the women's basketball program has had the most self-reported violations in the past five years with seven. The men's basketball program has six violations and football three, records show. There was one violation involving overpayment of meal money to bot! h footba ll and women's basketball players.

"That strikes me as not a high number of cases," Vermont Law School professor and sports law analyst Michael McCann said. "On one level it makes UConn look good because it shows they are handling and recording everything, including things that a typical person wouldn't think are a big deal."

* * *
UConn has been conducting an internal investigation into allegations that some of the contacts were illegal and that UConn coaches knew that Nochimson was representing Miles when they contacted him. Miles never played for UConn.

McCann said the fact that the school reported nothing about interactions with Nochimson is puzzling.

"How could they report all this other stuff and not report anything involving Nochimson and Miles? It's almost like they are ignoring the elephant in the room," McCann said.

* * *

To read the rest, click here. For a terrific Sports Law Blog post on the Freedom of Information Post from 2007 by Rick Karcher and terrific comments by Howard Wasserman, Jimmy H, and Rick, click here.

Rick Pitino Admits Affair, But Not Rape

University of Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino admitted to consensual sex with Karen Sypher, wife of Louisville equipment manager Tim Sypher, according to Louisville Metro Police reports obtained by The Courier-Journal under the Kentucky Open Records Act. The incident occurred at a Louisville restaurant on Aug. 1st, 2003.

Rick Pitino admitted that he paid Karen Sypher (photo attached to this post) $3,000 for her to have an abortion. He denied her allegations of rape, however.

This incident really took form in April of this year, when Rick Pitino indicated someone had tried to extort him. Later that month, Karen Sypher (photo attached to this post) was arrested for attempted extortion.

However, since then Karen Sypher has alleged that Rick Pitino raped her at the restaurant, Porcini, after the restaurant closed, and again at a different location.

Police records show that the commander of the sex offense unit, who investigated Karen Sypher's claims as well as interviewing her twice in July, found issues in her accounts of both incidents. District Attorney David Stengel announced in July that he wouldn't prosecute the case against Pitino because Sypher's claims lacked credibility and any supporting evidence.

Karen Sypher has also been unable to explain why she married Tim Sypher, as he's still work! ing for Pitino, and why he continued to work for the coach if he knew of the rape.

Tim and Karen Sypher filed for divorce in March. In a statement in April he said, "I am devastated by the bizarre allegations that my estranged wife is making against both Coach Pitino and myself."

Rick Pitino is married; his wife is the former Joanne Minardi; they married in 1976. They have five living children: Michael, Christopher, Richard (an assistant coach for the University of Florida Gators), Ryan and Jacqueline. Another son, Daniel, died in 1987 from congenital heart failure at the age of six months.

NCAA Mulls Ban Of Composite Bats

Baseball America informs us that the NCAA is considering banning composite bats, which, through either age or an intentional manipulation known as "rolling", have been shown to have a "trampoline effect" that causes the ball to fly off the bat at speeds up to 117 MPH. Home runs, hits, and runs per game have all spiked over the last two years, and this coincides with the use of aged composite bats.

Duke recruit may come a year earlier

Andre Dawkins, a highly ranked 2010 basketball recruit who has verbally committed to Duke, is considering joining the Blue Devils sooner as a member of the class of 2009.

"It's not a done deal at all," said Andre Dawkins, the recruit's father who goes by the same name. "It's a possibility we're looking into."

Dawkins' father said they will make a decision around Aug. 24.

Dawkins, who attended Atlantic Shores Christian School (Virginia Beach, Va.), would be a high school senior this fall.

He is considering enrolling at Duke early because he has almost met his graduation requirements, having completed his freshman year of high school at a public school before transferring and reclassifying as a freshman at his current school.

He has completed four years of high school.

Dawkins, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard, is currently enrolled in a course that if completed could help him possibly join the Blue Devils.

"He still has to complete something before that would take place," Dawkins' father said. "He has all of the requirements as far as credits. He did real well on the entrance exams."

He would also need to be cleared for eligibility by the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Dawkins' father said they looked at Elliot Williams' departure from Duke last month and contemplated the idea of leaving for Durham early.

He said the family had already decided Dawkins would leave Atlantic Shores and enroll at a prep school like Hargrave Military Academy.

-- Edward G. Robinson

Cutler Completion To Stafford= NCAA Violation

((HT: Athens Banner-Herald/Marc Weiszer))

Georgia self-reported eight NCAA secondary violations - four involving the football program - during the first six months of 2009, including one that came after a tip from the NFL Players Association led the school to discover that four players got complimentary tickets to an Atlanta Falcons game.

The NFLPA had concerns that agents had been inappropriately contacting a Georgia draft prospect, according to a copy of a letter sent by Georgia to Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive and obtained through an open records request.

The Georgia's player's name was redacted by the school, which cited a federal student privacy law, but fullback Shaun Chapas said Wednesday that quarterback Matthew Stafford got complimentary tickets.

The player told Georgia officials he got four tickets from NFL quarterback Jay Cutler ((pictured, thanks NashvilleScene.com)) for a November game. Cutler was playing for the Denver Broncos at the time and is now with the Chicago Bears.

The Georgia player told athletic department officials that he had known Cutler since his junior year of high school and had maintained a relationship by phone and text messages. The player said he texted Cutler for tickets for the Broncos' Nov. 16 game at the Georgia Dome.

Stafford was the top overall pick in April's NFL draft by the Detroit Lions and signed for an NFL-record $41.7 million in guarantees.

The players that got tickets, valued at $40 each, donated that amount to the Boys and Girls Club of Athens.

"We had to pay the money back for th! e ticket s, which is fine," Chapas said.

The NCAA defines a secondary violation as "isolated or inadvertent in nature," and providing only a "minimal" recruiting or competitive advantage.

Georgia listed the violation as being reported on Jan. 9, two days after Stafford and tailback Knowshon Moreno held a news conference to announce their entry into the draft. The letter to Slive was dated Dec. 10.

This spring, Georgia pushed for an NCAA rule change that would allow players to get tickets from NFL players instead of getting them under the table, but it was shot down by SEC schools. Georgia athletic director Damon Evans wanted current college players to be permitted to get tickets from friends that were former teammates.

"It failed mightily," Evans said at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla. "I think they were looking at all of the unintended consequences that may come out of it."

The other football violations were for a non-coaching staff member attending a coaching clinic, a UGA booster phoning a recruit after signing day and a coach leaving a message for a recruit after another coach spoke with the recruit the previous day.

Among the violations in other sports:

â–º The softball team exceeded the NCAA maximum equivalency limit by distributing 12.45 scholarships.

The NCAA permits 12.0. The case was reported in June and is not yet resolved. Georgia's scholarship aid could be reduced to 11.1 as a penalty for a year.

â–º The women's basketball coaching staff provided an additional hotel room for a recruit's mother while the recruit and mother were on their way to campus for an official visit.

â–º A women's tennis player received a grant-in-aid for less than a one-year period against NCAA rules and a track and field recruit took an official visit without being added to the NCAA's eligibility center's Web site.

A! ll have been resolved by the NCAA and SEC except for two that were reported in June.

Georgia's eight violations were down from 15 in the second half of 2008 and 14 in the first half.

"I think based on our coaches, how they're acting, our monitoring, that's a relatively low number, which is indicative of our coaches doing the right thing," said assistant athletic director for compliance Eric Baumgartner.

Stephen Alli, Solomon Patton, and Travon Van Become Gators

While I was gone the Florida recruiting train kept rolling. The Gators picked up three more commitments â€" all from out of state â€" in the form of two wide receivers and an athlete.

Proctor Academy (Andover, NH) receiver Stephen Alli chose Florida over Boston College, UConn, and yes, Harvard (he hopes to go to med school one day). Alli felt the combination of academics and athletics was best for him at Florida. The 6’5”, 210 lb. receiver will likely be asked to add some weight to his frame and could become a red-zone threat for the Gators.

Although smaller in stature, the 5’10”, 175 lb. Solomon Patton makes up for his lack of size with his speed. Patton ran a 10.3 100-meter dash in high school. For comparison purposes, Reggie Bush ran a 10.42 and Adrian Peterson ran a 10.42. The Rivals.com four-star receiver from Mobile, AL also had offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, FSU, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.

Travon Van was originally a part of the class of 2009, but always knew he would be spending a semester in prep school. Van will spend the fall at Milford Academy after finishing his high school career at Helix (San Diego, CA). The same Helix that produced Bush and Alex Smith. Miami and USC had also offered Van, but primarily as a defensive back.