VIEW THE MOBILE ALPHA VERSION OF THIS SITE

----------

News Nuggets, 05.08.04
----------
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...

Previous Day Nuggets...             Next Day Nuggets...

Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

USF football scores multiple TV games

The University of South Florida’s transition to the Big East during its final season in Conference USA will be given national attention in bookend football games on ESPN this fall.

The network provides a glimpse of USF’s future in the Big East with its broadcast of the Bulls’ season opener against Pittsburgh in a game that will move to September 6 at 4:30 p.m. in Raymond James Stadium.

ESPN has also said it will televise USF’s season and C-USA finale against Memphis, also in Raymond James Stadium. That game could be moved from Saturday, Nov. 27 to Friday, Nov. 26.

The most recently announced ESPN games give USF three nationally televised appearances, with the October 22 game at Louisville already slated for ESPN2.

“USF is moving into a new neighborhood and the increased level of national exposure is just one tangible benefit that comes with that,” says USF associate director of athletics Tom Veit. “These will be two very exciting holiday weekends for all of our fans to celebrate USF Football.

“We appreciate Pittsburgh’s cooperation in allowing for a date change, something that isn’t always easy to accomplish. We’re already enjoying an outstanding relationship with our future conference partner, and we are extremely excited about building upon that partnership.”

The Pittsburgh game marks the return date of the Bulls’ 35-26 win at Heinz Field, September 8, 2001.

USF began its football program in 1996 and played its inaugural season in 1997. The Bulls became members of C-USA in 2003 and finished in a three-way tie for third place.

South Florida is 51-26 in its seven seasons of football and will make the move to the Big East in 2005.

LSU escapes new sanctions

BATON ROUGE — The NCAA will not punish LSU further for cheating and academic misconduct, agreeing with the school's report that violations were secondary and not systemic.

The NCAA's ruling came after the organization reviewed a 1,300-page report which followed allegations that LSU athletes in 2002 cheated on tests, plagiarized papers and benefited from pressure on faculty to change grades.

"I was very proud at the time of the way this university responded," Chancellor Mark Emmert said. "I remain so."

The NCAA will take no further action beyond penalties that LSU already imposed: the loss of two football scholarships for 2005; the loss of four official visits by recruits; and discipline against those involved.

"I don't think this hurts Coach (Nick) Saban or the football program in any way," LSU athletic director Skip Bertman said. "But he was penalized for actions for which he was not responsible."

LSU will sign only 23 players rather than the 25 it is entitled to. The school could have had 52 official visits from athletes this year rather than the 55 allowed by the NCAA. Instead it had only 46, below the 52 it had imposed as a sanction.

LSU instructor Tiffany Mayne and graduate assistant Caroline Owen filed lawsuits against the university, alleging that they were told to change the grades of players who plagiarized papers to keep the players eligible for the 2000 Peach Bowl. Those lawsuits are in federal court in Baton Rouge.

"Basically it was because of the courage of my clients that LSU was able to discover the misconduct and correct it," said Jill Craft, attorney for Mayne and Owen. "If they had not been courageous enough to do that LSU might have been facing a much worse situation."

LSU transferred a former Academic Center for Student Athletes director and reprimanded an employee of the athletic department as corrective measures.

The misconduct was a prospective player receiving free tutoring he was not entitled to receive. The player was unaware that he was not entitled to the tutoring, but donated $40 to charity to cover the cost of the tutoring. A text book also had key passages underlined by a tutor so two players would not have to read the entire book.

The school said there was no plagiarism, cheating or serious misconduct at the academic center. The NCAA agreed by ruling that the violations were secondary instead of major. Secondary is an isolated or inadvertent breaking of an NCAA rule, said Chris Howard, who is in charge of overseeing compliance at LSU.

LSU also made changes concerning athletes and the academic center that took effect last fall and were aimed at preventing future problems.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007