>Posted on 23 Nov 1994 at 12:51:48 by Bill Fenwick
>
>Re: Harkness
>
>Date:         Wed, 23 Nov 1994 12:23:37 EST
>Reply-To:     Bill Fenwick <[log in to unmask]>
>From:         Bill Fenwick <[log in to unmask]>
>
>Luiz writes:
>>Let's not forget that Ned Harkness was forced to resign as Union College
>>coach due to recruiting violations. It appears that his winning-at-all-
>>costs attitude eventually caught up with him.
>
>A minor clarification, though what Luiz says is correct.  The violations
>were of NESCAC rules, not NC$$ ones.  Back then (1978), Union was a member
>of the NESCAC, which had (and may still have) a rule prohibiting head
>coaches from visiting recruits.  Well, Ned visited a few in the off-season
>and, when confronted about it, committed the Really Big Boo-boo and lied
>about the whole thing.  He eventually 'fessed up.  His resignation came
>some time later and had to do in part with four or five of his players being
>declared academically ineligible during the season.
 
Thanks for the clarification. I should have mentioned in my post that
the violation involved the NESCAC rule prohibiting visits to the homes of
prospective student-athletes, rather than an NCAA rule.
 
>According to the recent SI article, this whole situation caused the NESCAC
>to kick Union out of the league.  I was under the impression that Union
>withdrew from the league themselves, rather than being forced out.  Can
>anybody clarify this?
 
From what I remember, Union was pretty embarrassed by the whole affair,
and decided to withdraw from NESCAC. NESCAC had nothing to gain by forcing
Union out.
 
Luiz F. Valente