National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

July 21, 1997

Kansas State basketball violations result in two-year penalty

The NCAA Committee on Infractions has placed Kansas State University on probation for two years for violations in the conduct of its women's basketball program.

The violations were of NCAA bylaws governing summer camps, recruiting, out-of-season practice and institutional responsibility for monitoring programs.

In addition to the probation, the committee imposed penalties, including prohibiting any satellite summer camps in women's basketball for 1998 and 1999, prohibiting student-athlete employment in the women's basketball summer camps for 1998 and 1999 and requiring audits of all summer sports camps for two years.

The university had already self-imposed penalties that included forfeiting all conference and nonconference games during the 1995-96 season.

Many of the violations occurred during the summers of 1994 and 1995 when several prospective and enrolled student-athletes were employed in violation of NCAA legislation by the university's head women's basketball coach at his summer basketball camps.

In addition, prospective student-athletes received impermissible lodging and meals at no cost, and there were violations of NCAA practice and tryout legislation during the same time period. The committee was also concerned with the university's lack of monitoring regarding its summer camps.

Because Kansas State was involved in a major violation of NCAA rules in 1994 in its men's and women's cross country and track and field programs, the school was subject to the repeat violator provisions of NCAA legislation when the current violations occurred.

However, the committee decided not to impose any of the penalties prescribed for repeat violators because the substance of the violations and the sports program involved in this case differed from those in the prior case, because there was no lack of institutional control found in either case and because of the limited nature of the violations in this case.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions heard this case May 31, 1997. Representatives of the university, the Big Twelve Conference and the NCAA enforcement staff appeared before the committee. The former head women's basketball coach involved in this case was also present.

The violations found by the committee included:

  • During the summers of 1994 and 1995, the institution's head women's basketball coach employed several prospective and enrolled student-athletes at his girls' basketball camps in violation of NCAA legislation. Prospective student-athletes are not permitted to work at institutional camps or receive free or reduced admissions. The head coach paid one student-athlete at a rate higher than the going rate and failed to obtain prior approval from the director of athletics for the employment of the student-athletes who worked the camps.

  • During the summers of 1994 and 1995, the institution's head women's basketball coach provided improper recruiting inducements to prospective student-athletes employed at his camp when he arranged for them to receive impermissible lodging and meals at no cost.

  • During the summers of 1994 and 1995, the head women's basketball coach and his assistant coaches observed or participated in pickup games played by enrolled and prospective women's basketball student-athletes, in violation of NCAA practice and tryout legislation.

  • During August 1995, the head women's basketball coach, an assistant women's basketball coach and a former student-athlete had impermissible in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts with a prospective student-athlete during a quiet period when they stayed in her home while they worked at an institutional satellite summer camp.

  • During 1994 and 1995, the institution failed to monitor the operations of the summer camps and the head coach failed to report NCAA violations.

  • There were several secondary violations.

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

  • Added a full-time assistant director of athletics/compliance auditor to strengthen the university's compliance education program and to provide greater general oversight.

  • Developed a handbook for summer camps and clinics, which has been distributed to all coaches and administrators in an attempt to strengthen the administration of summer camps and to ensure compliance with NCAA rules.

  • Suspended the head women's basketball coach on February 9, 1996, and subsequently obtained his resignation.

  • Did not offer employment contracts to the assistant women's basketball coaches for the 1996-97 fiscal year or provide them an opportunity to compete for job vacancies.

    The Committee on Infractions adopted as its own penalties self-imposed by the university, including:

  • Shortening preseason practice during the fall of 1996 by one week.

  • Prohibiting the women's basketball program from holding summer camps/clinics during the summer of 1996.

  • Forfeiting all conference and nonconference games during the 1995-96 season.

  • Reducing by two the number of permissible financial aid awards in women's basketball during the 1996-97 academic year.

    Because of the university's status as a repeat violator, the involvement of the head women's basketball coach in the violations, the lack of monitoring of summer camps and the number of prospective and enrolled student-athletes involved, the committee imposed the following additional penalties.

  • Public reprimand and censure.

  • Two years of probation.

  • Prohibiting any satellite summer camps in women's basketball for two years.

  • Prohibiting student-athlete employment in the women's basketball summer camps for two years.

  • Requiring that the women's basketball coaching staff and the athletics administrative staff attend a rules-education session with conference or NCAA staff.

  • Requiring that the university conduct an annual audit of all summer sports camps during each of the next two years.

  • Requiring that the institution continue to develop a comprehensive athletics compliance education program, with annual reports to the committee during the period of probation.

  • Recertifying current athletics policies and practices.

    As required by NCAA legislation for any institution in a major infractions case, Kansas State is again subject to the NCAA's repeat violator provisions for a five-year period beginning on the effective date of the penalties in this case, May 31, 1997.

    Should Kansas State or the head women's basketball coach who participated in the processing of this case wish to appeal this decision, they must submit a written notice appeal to the NCAA executive director no later than 15 days from the date of this release. The Infractions Appeals Committee, a separate group of people, hears such appeals.

    The members of the Committee on Infractions who heard this case are Richard J. Dunn, divisional dean of humanities, University of Washington; Jack H. Friedenthal, dean of law, George Washington University; Frederick B. Lacey, attorney, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae and a retired judge; Beverly E. Ledbetter, vice-president and general counsel, Brown University, acting chair; and Yvonne (Bonnie) Slatton, chair of the department of physical educational and sports studies, University of Iowa.

    The complete report of the Committee on Infractions will be published in the September 1 issue of The NCAA Register.