Fresno State on probation after NCAA probe

Saturday December 14, 2002

By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press Writer

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) Fresno State put its basketball team and athletics department on probation for two years for numerous NCAA rules violations that included payments from agents to players.

Friday's actions came after a two year probe by the university and NCAA that dogged the final years of famed basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian's career and cast a shadow over the program he rebuilt at his alma mater.

One of the violations included gifts that one of Tarkanian's former players, Houston Rockets guard Tito Maddox, accepted from an agent. He was dismissed from school after accepting airline tickets, and he recently told The Fresno Bee that he received $30,000 from an agent. Another player said he took cash from a middleman.

The basketball program was also disciplined for accepting thousands of dollars in free meals from a Japanese restaurant and for holding unauthorized practices.

But the actions Friday were in response to problems across other fields of play that included major violations and judgment errors, said university President John Welty. The NCAA said in a letter to the school this summer that it found a lack of institutional control over the entire department.

Most of the violations were discovered by the university and turned over to the NCAA, which found additional violations.

There were eligibility infractions in the men's soccer and basketball, in which players didn't meet the grade requirements to compete. Women's basketball committed a recruiting violation by tutoring a player and using staff to provide transportation.

School officials met Friday with NCAA officials in Indianapolis and announced a number of steps to make amends, including probation.

The probation status means that additional violations could expose the school to more severe penalties in the next two years, said Steve Weakland, assistant athletics director. It will not prevent teams from playing in any contests.

In addition, the university said it will eliminate three basketball scholarships for the school years beginning in the fall of 2004 and 2005.

Athletic director Scott Johnson must draw up a plan to teach his department about NCAA rules. A free ticket policy that was being abused must be revised.

The NCAA took no action Friday but was expected to issue findings in the next three months.

Without mentioning Tarkanian by name, a statement issued by Welty said he believed the school had left its problems behind.

``With the actions we have taken and the administrators and coaches in the program, I am confident there will not be any major violations in the future,'' Welty said.

Tarkanian was replaced by Ray Lopes after retiring in March following a disappointing 19-15 season. It was only the second time in Tarkanian's 31 years in Division I that his team failed to win 20 games.

In bidding farewell, Tarkanian could not restrain himself from criticizing the NCAA.

``I always say that I shouldn't talk about the NCAA, and I always do,'' he said. ``They've been my tormentors my whole life. It will never stop.''

In 1992, after leading UNLV to a 26-2 record, Tarkanian was forced to resign after photos showed three former players in a hot tub with a convicted sports fixer.

His contract at Fresno State specified that he follow NCAA rules, but the program soon came under scrutiny, with a federal point-shaving controversy that later died and the scandal involving free meals of ``rice bowls'' at a local Japanese restaurant.

After an investigation, the university required players to reimburse the restaurant for what amounted to less than $100 a player.

Tarkanian, who is now raising money for the school's new basketball arena, has defended the program and vowed that the NCAA would not find any major violations. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)