Report says SU neglected athletic department drug policy with men’s basketball program
UPDATED: Monday, March 5, 2012, 8:00 p.m.
Multiple members of Syracuse men’s basketball teams during the past decade failed drug tests, yet were still allowed by the school to play, according to a story published by Yahoo! Sports on Monday.
The report from Yahoo! Sports cites four anonymous sources who claim a minimum of 10 players, dating back to 2001, played and practiced when they should have been suspended by SU’s athletic department. The sources said the department didn’t count the positive tests, allowed players to play and didn’t inform some players of their ineligibility due to a positive test.
According to a statement issued by the university and comments made by Athletic Director Daryl Gross, these alleged violations were self-reported to the NCAA.
‘The bottom line is that when we have things that we think may be violations or potential violations, it’s our practice and it’s our culture to self-report,’ Gross said. ‘And we did that. Obviously we want to be responsible and accountable and we try to make sure that any kind of tweaks going forward that we make those tweaks and make sure we have a culture that enhances our compliance.’
The NCAA issued a statement Monday evening that said the violations were self-reported by Syracuse.
The statement from the NCAA reads: ‘Syracuse University appropriately self-reported possible violations to the NCAA several months ago and we currently have an ongoing investigation.’
The NCAA questioned a fifth source — a former Syracuse basketball player — about the drug testing policies in place at SU, according to Yahoo! Sports.
‘In accordance with NCAA regulations, it is the university’s practice to self-report possible violations to the NCAA,’ Kevin Quinn, SU senior vice president for public affairs, said in an email. ‘We self-reported issues with drug testing to the NCAA, and there is currently an ongoing inquiry. The inquiry does not involve any current SU student-athletes. To ensure the integrity of the ongoing process, we are unable to comment further at this time.’
Jake Crouthamel, SU athletic director for 27 years from 1978 to 2005, was unaware of Yahoo! Sports’ investigation when reached by phone Monday afternoon. He said he knew of several failed drug tests during his time as athletic director, but the players did not practice or play after failing in those cases.
‘I don’t recall any of that, of allowing players to play,’ Crouthamel said. ‘Those who tested positive, and I can really think of only one or two, didn’t play until they were clean.’
Crouthamel did not name the players he knew had failed drug tests.
He said he couldn’t remember exactly what the policy was after a player fails a drug test, but he said the player is informed of the failed test and continues to be retested until the test comes back clean.
‘That was a while ago,’ Crouthamel said. ‘I mean, I really don’t know (what the policy was). We had to continue testing him until he was clean.’
Moving forward, the NCAA could sanction SU using the ‘willful violators’ clause, which allows the NCAA to ignore its four-year statute of limitations to come down with punishment on the basketball program.
The report also said Syracuse could be charged with lack of institutional control for failing to adhere to its own drug policy. It mentions similar sanctions that were levied against Baylor University in 2005, after the athletic department did not follow its own established guidelines and covered up positive drug tests for three players.
Gross declined to comment on the NCAA investigation because it is still ongoing.
‘That part I won’t comment on because it’s an ongoing investigation, so we give respect to that whole process,’ Gross said. ‘I think that’s important.’
Crouthamel declined to comment on both the potential charges SU could face and the Baylor incident.
It’s unknown if the allegations against players and the athletic department will affect this year’s basketball team, which just finished the regular season with a 30-1 record and will play Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
The report quotes only Syracuse men’s head basketball coach Jim Boeheim. He declined comment to Yahoo! Sports.
Published on March 4, 2012 at 12:00 pm
