Latest NCAA scandal occurs at headquarters

NCAA President Mark Emmert, faced with the organization’s enforcement staff botching a high-profile investigation of the University of Miami, said he is disappointed and angry with the misstep and that none of the evidence improperly obtained would be used against Miami.

NCAA President Mark Emmert, faced with the organization’s enforcement staff botching a high-profile investigation of the University of Miami, said he is disappointed and angry with the misstep and that none of the evidence improperly obtained would be used against Miami.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

— The latest black eye for college sports belongs to the NCAA.

In an embarrassing blow to its watchdog image, the NCAA said Wednesday its enforcement staff had botched the high-profile investigation of the University of Miami by improperly conducting at least two depositions while working with an attorney for disgraced booster Nevin Shapiro. Miami has been under investigation since the convicted Ponzi scheme mastermind said he had provided improper benefits to Hurricanes recruits.

NCAA President Mark Emmert said he was disappointed and angry with the misstep, acknowledging he had not seen anything like this since taking the NCAA job 2 1/2 years ago. He said some “people” involved in the case were no longer working for the NCAA, though he declined to say who they were or whether they had been fired.

Emmert said none of the evidence collected improperly would be used against Miami, and that the long-awaited notice of allegations would be delayed until after an external review is completed in approximately two weeks.

It was an ugly stumble for the NCAA, coming less than a week after its annual convention resulted in another round of reforms intended to firm up recruiting rules and other guidelines. It also comes as the organization faces more than a half-dozen lawsuits that could reshape how it does business, including one challenging the $60 million in penalties levied against Penn State as part of the child-sex scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

“Of course it hurts,” said Jo Potuto, former chairman of the NCAA infractions committee and a constitutional law professor at Nebraska. “Any nick to a public perception that’s not favorable to begin with is a problem. The public perception has never been really favorable to the process or the infractions committee, and so this is another hit.”

Emmert tried to reassure schools that the principle of playing by the rules extends to NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.

“We can’t just say it, we’ve got to do it,” he said. “While I have great confidence in the vast majority of cases, when you have something as candidly dramatic as this, you can’t just offer words, you have to demonstrate that you’re getting this right. The reason I wanted to get this out is to make sure that this is right. We want to hold ourselves to the same standards we hold others to.”

The external review will be conducted by former Justice Department official Kenneth L. Wainstein, a Washington attorney.

Emmert said he hopes the process could be completed within two weeks, and that the investigation would continue with “appropriately acquired evidence.”

Wainstein will focus on Miami’s case, but he will have the authority to investigate the NCAA’s actions in additional cases, too.

The potential list could include the suit brought by former Southern California assistant football coach Todd McNair, who claims the NCAA was “malicious” in its investigation into his role in the benefits scandal surrounding Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Frederick Shaller has already said he was convinced the actions of NCAA investigators were “over the top.”

Wainstein also could look into the UCLA case involving freshman Shabazz Muhammad. In December, The Los Angeles Times reported that NCAA investigator Abigail Grantstein had been fired after her boyfriend was allegedly overheard discussing the case on an airplane. The NCAA has not confirmed the firing.

The outside review could have potential ramifications, too, in a lawsuit brought by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett in the Penn State case.

This is not unfamiliar ground for the NCAA, and it could be that Emmert fears a lawsuit from Miami no matter how the investigation turns out. Rick Neuheisel, the former Washington football coach, won a $4.5 million settlement from the NCAA and university in 2005, saying he was wrongly fired for gambling in an NCAA basketball pool and failing to be forthright about it with NCAA investigators. Among other accusations, Neuheisel’s attorney said the NCAA failed to provide Neuheisel’s legal team with an updated version of its bylaws during discovery.

Emmert concluded something was wrong in the Miami case last fall when bills for an outside attorney showed up on an expense list, a hiring normally approved by the NCAA’s general counsel. Emmert said it was not, and that was what initially caught the attention of those inside the organization’s headquarters in Indianapolis. He also said the person who had hired the lawyer was no longer working at the NCAA, making it more difficult to get information.

The fallout could lead to additional personnel moves, too, Emmert said.

The NCAA utilized information from two depositions conducted as part of the bankruptcy case, and Emmert said one of the questions he wants Wainstein’s query to answer will be how the investigation could get this far without someone within the organization recognizing that this was an inappropriate way to proceed.

“We cannot have the NCAA bringing forward an allegation that’s predicted on information that was collected by processes none of us could stand for,” Emmert said.

The NCAA would not reveal the name of the attorney involved. Shapiro has been represented by Maria Elena Perez, a Miami graduate. Perez did not immediately return a request for comment from The Associated Press on Wednesday.

One key person in the investigation has been former Miami equipment-room staffer Sean Allen, who was deposed by Perez as part of Shapiro’s bankruptcy proceedings.

Miami’s athletic compliance practices have been investigated by the NCAA for nearly two years. Allegations of wrongdoing involving Miami’s football and men’s basketball programs became widely known in August 2011 when Yahoo Sports published accusations brought by Shapiro, who is serving a 20-year term in federal prison for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme.

Miami has self-imposed two postseason bans in response to the investigation. The Hurricanes also would have played in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game this past season, meaning they could have qualified for the Orange Bowl.

Miami President Donna Shalala said she was “frustrated, disappointed and concerned” that the NCAA may have compromised the investigation.

“As we have done since the beginning, we will continue to work with the NCAA and now with their outside investigator hoping for a swift resolution of the investigation and our case,” Shalala said.

Sports, Pages 19 on 01/24/2013