National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

August 17, 1998

Infractions case: Gonzaga University

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions placed Gonzaga University on probation for a period of four years for violations of NCAA bylaws governing recruiting funds and institutional control, and for violations of NCAA bylaws governing ethical conduct by a member of the institution's staff.

In addition, the former director of athletics at the university, who resigned in December 1997, is subject to the Association's show-cause procedures for four years. If he seeks employment or affiliation in an athletically related position at a member school, both he and the school must appear before the committee to determine whether the individual's athletically related duties should be limited for a designated period of time.

The violations stem from the misappropriation of funds that should have been deposited in the university's general account but instead were deposited into a private account created and controlled by the former director of athletics. The committee also found that the former athletics director violated ethical conduct principles by failing to report the existence of the account and that the university failed to exercise institutional control by monitoring the fiscal activities of its athletics department.

Through their investigations, the university and the NCAA discovered that the former athletics director had maintained a private account from 1981 through mid-1997 for which he was the sole signatory. From August 1990 through June 1997, the former athletics director misappropriated $199,874 of university money by depositing it in the private account.

The money included 35 checks totaling $110,354.65 from the West Coast Conference for reimbursement of athletically related expenses. An additional 70 checks made out to the university, along with cash gate receipts, parking fees and program sales, were also deposited in the private account. The funds were used to supplement the university's athletics budget for recruiting trips and the provision of meal and student-host entertainment money during prospects' official visits. Some of the funds were used to purchase a used vehicle for recruiting trips for various coaches.

Because the former athletics director routinely destroyed the bank statements, only limited documentation exists as to how money in the account was spent. He also failed to disclose information about the account during the school's annual NCAA-mandated audits and failed to report it as part of the NCAA Certification Self-Study Report.

The violations found by the committee were:

  • During the period 1990 through 1997, the university lacked appropriate institutional control in its athletics programs in that it failed to adequately monitor the director of athletics' use of university funds to pay recruiting and other athletics department expenses.

  • During the period of 1989 through 1997, the director of athletics violated the NCAA principles of ethical conduct.

    In determining appropriate penalties, the committee considered Gonzaga's corrective actions, including:

  • Placing the director of athletics on administrative leave on July 2, 1997, and accepting his resignation on December 22, 1997.

  • Issuing letters of reprimand to the assistant director of athletics, head men's basketball coach and assistant men's basketball coach addressing their responsibility for failing to report violations of NCAA legislation in a more timely manner.

  • Requiring athletics department personnel to attend a university compliance seminar in May 1998 and announcing its intention to hold such seminars on an annual basis.

  • Developing a policy and procedures manual that sets forth funds monitoring and fiscal control policies.

    The committee noted that the university gained little or no apparent recruiting or competitive advantage from the violations and that it had promptly reported the violations and cooperated in the investigation. However, because of the university's failure to discover the misappropriation of funds over a substantial period of time, the committee imposed the following additional penalties:

  • Four years of probation.

  • Requirement that the institution design an on-campus NCAA rules education program emphasizing the financial aspects of intercollegiate athletics, with annual reports to the committee during the period of probation.

  • Requirement that the institution send specified individuals to an NCAA compliance seminar.

  • Requirement that the institution establish procedures for annual internal audits of its compliance and fiscal control programs.

  • Requirement that the institution employ an outside auditor to conduct a comprehensive audit of its athletics department.

  • Recertification of current athletics policies and practices.

  • Show-cause requirement regarding the former director of athletics for four years.

    As required by NCAA legislation for any institution involved in a major infractions case, Gonzaga is subject to the NCAA's repeat-violator provisions for a five-year period beginning on the effective date of the penalties in this case, June 5, 1998.

    The members of the Division I Committee on Infractions who heard this case are:

    David Swank, committee chair, professor of law, University of Oklahoma; Alice Gresham Bullock, dean, Howard University School of Law; Richard J. Dunn, professor of English, University of Washington; Jack H. Frieden-thal, professor of law, George Washington University; James Park Jr., attorney and retired judge, Brown, Todd & Heyburn, Lexington, Kentucky; James L. Richmond, retired judge and attorney; Yvonne (Bonnie) L. Slatton, chair, department of physical education and sports studies, University of Iowa; and Thomas E. Yeager, commissioner, Colonial Athletic Association.

    A copy of the complete report from the Division I Committee on Infractions is available upon request.