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>Approved-By:  Tony Biscardi <[log in to unmask]>
>Date:         Fri, 14 Feb 1997 16:38:00 -0500
>Reply-To:     Tony Biscardi <[log in to unmask]>
>Sender:       College Hockey Information list - Information postings only
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>From:         Tony Biscardi <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject:      Article from the Portland Press Herald (fwd)
>To:           [log in to unmask]
>
>> 
>>                                 NCAA: UMaine penalties stand 
>> 
>>                                       By Kevin Thomas 
>>                                         Staff Writer
>>                         ¸Copyright 1997 Guy Gannett Communications
>> In a ruling that refers often to the wrongdoings of head hockey coach Shawn 
>> Walsh, the NCAA has upheld its decision to ban the University of
>> Maine from this year's national tournament.
>> 
>> The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee also upheld another penalty that 
>> took away five football scholarships this season.The decisions,
>> announced Thursday, concluded a three-year process that forced the 
>> university to revamp its athletic compliance system.
>> 
>> The two penalties upheld by the NCAA committee were among several 
>> punishments levied last July 31 against the school for rules violations, most
>> stemming from the hockey program.
>> 
>> Maine appealed only two penalties - the ban on the 1997 hockey playoffs 
>> and the reduction of football scholarships.
>> 
>> In the case of hockey, UMaine officials complained the punishment was 
>> too harsh because the school already banned its hockey team from the 1996
>> playoffs.
>> 
>> But the appeals committee pointed to Walsh and denied the appeal. The 
>> report even lauded Maine's cooperation with the NCAA but added:
>> 
>> ''The head men's ice hockey coach's failure to exercise proper control 
>> over his program and his involvement in significant violations offset the
good
>> work of the institution.''
>> 
>> The report referred to Walsh's ''appalling lack of knowledge of NCAA
recruiting
>>  and extra-benefit rules,'' plus two specific violations by Walsh - his
>> accepting money during a 1993 suspension, after he was told not to; and his 
>> interfering with the NCAA investigation by talking to others involved,
>> again after he was told not to do so.
>> 
>> Walsh's 1993 suspension was for concealing information about an ineligible 
>> athlete. He was suspended again, for one year without pay, for his role in
>> the NCAA violations. The suspension ended Dec. 24.
>> 
>> Initially, NCAA investigators alleged Walsh acted unethically - a charge 
>> that usually leads to a dismissal. In July, the NCAA's Committee on
>> Infractions cleared Walsh of those charges and accepted his one-year
suspension.
>> 
>> But during the appeals process it became clear Walsh's actions - and his 
>> continued presence at Maine - led to the harsh punishment.
>> 
>> Maine President Frederick Hutchinson, in a written statement Thursday, 
>> admitted ''the penalties (the committee) imposed last summer were part of
>> an effort to further punish Coach Shawn Walsh.''
>> 
>> However, Maine officials did have an idea that Walsh was being punished 
>> further when they filed their appeal. If Maine was allowed to play in the
>> 1997 tournament, Maine offered to force Walsh to sit out and have an 
>> assistant coach take over.
>> 
>> Walsh refused to comment Thursday, only saying in a statement that ''at 
>> no time did I feel we would win the appeal.''
>> 
>> Maine Athletic Director Suzanne Tyler suspended Walsh for a year. During 
>> Maine's hearing with the Committee on Infractions last June, Tyler said
>> she got the impression Maine was applauded for not finding a ''fall person.''
>> 
>> ''And now they're suggesting there is a fall person,'' Tyler said, 
>> referring to Walsh.
>> 
>> Tyler said she doesn't know if the penalties would have been lighter if 
>> she had fired Walsh.
>> 
>> ''I don't think anybody can answer that,'' said Stephen Mallonee, the NCAA 
>> staff liaison for the appeals committee. ''The simple fact is that he is
still
>> at the institution.''
>> 
>> Mallonee did say Walsh's actions helped justify the penalties.
>> 
>> The Maine hockey team is 17-10-1 this season. It won't be allowed into 
>> its Hockey East tournament.
>> 
>> Maine football was hurt before the appeal decision last Wednesday, the first 
>> day colleges could sign recruits. Maine signed fewer players, not
>> knowing the decision.
>> 
>> ''I anticipated the outcome,'' said Coach Jack Cosgrove, who is still
searching
>>  for seven or eight players. They must be walk-ons or get financial
>> need or academic scholarships.
>> 
>> The football program was penalized for using five ineligible players in
1993, 
>> and four players who received improper financial aid in the summers of
>> 1992 and '93, under Kirk Ferentz, then the head coach.
>> 
>> UMaine officials complained that the football program did nothing wrong, 
>> especially since the ineligible players were the fault of the athletic
>> department's compliance system.
>> 
>> But the appeals report said that taking away five scholarships for one year
>>  - because of the five ineligible players used - was fair.
>> 
>> The announcement ends Maine's saga with the NCAA, which dates to March 17,
>>  1994, when the NCAA sent an investigator to Orono.
>> 
>> To help with its investigation and overhaul its compliance system, UMaine 
>> paid $620,295 to a Kansas law firm.
>> 
>
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Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])