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News Nuggets, 06.04.04
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NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
Previous Day Nuggets...
Next Day Nuggets...
Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
Shame-ridden SEC vows systematic cleanup
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PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
06.03.04: Channel
7 picks up rights to Regional opener ... .. Jurich inks pact
with Atlanta Braves... ..
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06.02.04: Aztecs,
Wolf Pack finagle games with Notre Dame ... .. Banished
Texas hurlers recalled for tourney... ..
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06.01.04: Stony
Brook stands in road to Omaha ... .. College Baseball Polls
... .. USM, Memphis players named to Athlon team... ..
More... |
05.31.04: Pirates,
K- Town snag coveted NCAA regional ... .. Title clinches
rare NCAA appearance for TCU... ..
More... |
05.30.04: Golden
Eagles and Horned Frogs square off for crown ... .. Yale
basketball player dies in auto accident... ..
More... |
05.29.04: Stunning
losses leave Pirates with time to ponder ... .. Budding
whistle-blowers earn scholarships... ..
More... |
05.28.04: Mazey
looks to well of pitchers to dig out of hole ... .. Alcohol
charges strike out Texas pitchers ... .. No. 1 hurler
finally loses... ..
More... |
05.27.04: Clear
sailing for Pirates on day one ... .. Court rejects
boosters' seat assignment suit ... .. Fox to roll out
college sports TV network... ..
More... |
05.26.04: Bearcats
reject ESPN Friday night game ... .. Radio network expanded
for tournament ... .. Georgia State 'moving on up' to CAA... ..
More... |
05.25.04: College
baseball polls ... .. Rice brushes off consultant, recommits
to big-time sports ... .. Bulls lose veteran football player... ..
More... |
05.24.04: Weekend
in the limelight for Pirates and Bunn ... .. C-USA
Tournament Vitals & Schedule ... .. Final regular season
standings... ..
More... |
05.23.04: C-USA
standings & postseason schedule ... .. Potential
class-action suit filed on behalf of walk-ons ... .. Father
of Tar Heels basketball coach passes... ..
More... |
05.22.04: Big
season means big bucks for Blazers basketball coach... ..
Hamrick snags spot on NCAA baseball panel... ..
More... |
05.21.04: ECU
assistant Herenda in UVA sights... .. Eustachy inks juco
backcourt star... .. Upgrade in store for Saturday nights in
Baton Rouge... ..
More... |
05.20.04: ECU,
UNC-CH visions sail through early tests... .. C-USA maps out
new alignments... .. USM- Cal game shifts to Thursday for
ESPN... ..
More... |
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DESTIN, FL — Dave Odom knew the Southeastern
Conference had an image problem when he talked recently with a colleague
from another major league about scheduling a game. "He told me there were
only four teams in the SEC he would play," said Odom, the men's basketball
coach at South Carolina.
The message was clear: Two-thirds of the SEC's 12
schools should be avoided because they played loose with the rules.
Acknowledging its reputation as a renegade
conference, the SEC approved a policy Wednesday that is designed to reduce
the sort of cheating that has put a constant stream of schools at odds with
the NCAA. The policy is supposed to streamline the process for reporting
violations and make schools more accountable for keeping their people in
line.
Four SEC schools — Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and
Kentucky — are currently on probation. Georgia and Mississippi State
recently admitted to rules violations but have yet to be sanctioned by the
NCAA.
Over the past decade, nearly every league school has
been accused of malfeasance, some more than once. The SEC's reputation for
athletic excellence has been tarnished by recruiting scandals and academic
fraud.
"This is the first time in the history of the league
that we've all come together in the process, looked each other in the eye
and acknowledged the issues we've had," SEC commissioner Mike Slive said.
"We don't want them to happen anymore."
At its annual spring meeting on Florida's gulf
coast, the SEC unanimously approved the recommendations of the "Task Force
on Compliance & Enforcement." Slive has set a goal of having all SEC schools
off probation by the summer of 2007.
A centerpiece of the new policy: If one school
suspects another of violating NCAA rules, a strict protocol is prescribed
for reporting the allegations.
The new policy, which might become known as the
"Phillip Fulmer Rule," is supposed to give coaches a clear-cut policy for
dealing with suspicious behavior by a rival school.
Fulmer, the Tennessee football coach, told an NCAA
investigator in 2000 that he suspected improper dealings between Alabama
boosters and recruits. While assured of confidentiality, Fulmer's claims
were revealed during a federal lawsuit that claims he was part of a
conspiracy to bring down the Crimson Tide football program.
The NCAA wound up placing Alabama on probation for
five years, including major scholarship reductions and a two-year ban on
playing in a bowl.
"I think everybody has gotten the message that this
is the way things need to be," Fulmer said. "We want to have the reputation
around the country that the SEC is not only a great conference academically
and athletically, but we do things the right way."
Still, the new policy provides no penalties for a
school that doesn't comply with the reporting guidelines. Slive is counting
on "peer pressure" to keep members in line, which could be difficult given
the SEC's track record.
When Odom was coaching in the Atlantic Coast
Conference, he was amazed at all the rule-breaking that seemed to prevail in
the SEC. Coaches talked openly about paying for players and bragged that
they had their own system of checks, balances and avoiding the NCAA.
"I'd say, 'How in the heck do you get by with that
stuff," Odom recalled. "They'd say, 'Hey, local rules prevail. We take care
of our own."
The SEC is now urging schools to shy away from
hiring coaches who have run afoul of NCAA rules at other institutions.
Feds
drop charge against WVU linebacker
CLARKSBURG, WV — A federal judge has dismissed a
firearms dealing charge against suspended West Virginia linebacker Muhammad
"Mo" Howard.
Judge John S. Kaull granted the prosecution's
request to dismiss the charges on Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn
Angus Morgan wrote in an affidavit that since the charges were brought
against Howard "the development of the evidence" had led the government to
decline to make its case.
Court filings did not elaborate on what changes to
the evidence had taken place, and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's
Office did not immediately return a call Thursday seeking comment.
Howard, a 22-year-old from Baltimore, had been
accused of buying more than 20 inexpensive firearms between March 26 and
June 2, 2003, from Morgantown firearms dealer Colonial Arms and selling them
without a license.
Howard told authorities he started to complete the
paperwork for a federal firearms license but did not finish it, according to
the complaint.
Howard's attorney, Brian Kornbrath, did not
immediately return a call seeking comment.
Coach Rich Rodriguez had suspended Howard from the
team pending the outcome of the investigation. Athletic department
spokeswoman Shelly Poe said Rodriguez was traveling, but planned to meet
with Howard next week.
Howard, who also plays on special teams, had eight
tackles in as many games last season with the Mountaineers, including five
unassisted tackles.
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.
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