SMU BASKETBALL 2 YEAR PROBATION

[SMU89]

I'm not a basketball guy.....but this article is interesting......

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... spie030811

I imagine BCG has hand delivered his resume to Jeff Long at Arkansas where coincidentally John Pelphrey has been accused of secondary violations today. Would is he has to win the SEC tourney or he is gone.

You can't win if you don't try.

[mrydel]

I think something that is important to note here is that the punishment is our self imposed penalty that the NCAA accepted. I do not recall many times that the NCAA has not tacked on additional penalties in cases of self imposed offers. That means we probably over killed on the punishment but we kept the NCAA out of our house for a more extensive review.

[Mitch McConnell]

The use of Major to describe these violations is ridiculous. I don't even agree with one of the self-imposed sanctions SMU put out there. I would have reduced that one number from 130 to 120, not 115.

The paid visits from 12 to 10? With the influx of kids coming in, are we even going to use all 10? If memory serves, schools are just allowed up to a certain number. They don't have to use all of them. It's totally the program's call as to how many it uses every year.

Oh and that censure and reprimand? That's making the hair on my neck stand up.

IMO, the bottom line is that the NCAA doesn't even have the best handle on how to the address social media with this. Does it have a rule on Tweeting and facebook?

I'm not even worried about this or upset about this.

I also think that some of you who are carrying torches and clubs to the men's basketball program are just trying to look for ANYTHING to support your disgust for things so you can keep pounding the counter.

Some of you dorkwods need to pick up the NCAA rulebook, read it from cover to cover. I would betcha that even the best compliance officers don't know it verbatim.

I betcha members of the NCAA infractions committee don't even know it by heart.

[expony18]

regardless we are now tied with ASU for most major infractions... we're #1, we're #1!!!

[HB Pony Dad]

Kind of reminds me of how effectively the USC's self-imposed sanctions and firing Tim Floyd kept the NCAA from investigating further.

[PoconoPony]

Probation, not post-season ban.

We continually "ban" ourselves from post-season play.

What is the difference as we never get there anyway???

[EastStang]

In reading the article, it looks like the coaches asked the compliance office about this BEFORE they did it and got a green light. So, I don't think the coaches can be punished if the compliance officer misread the rules. Now someone needs to kick some tail in the compliance office. I agree that these are ticky tack violations. The problem now is that we have to keep our skirts really clean for the next 6 years in all sports because we would be again death penalty eligible should we mess up.

[Mitch McConnell]

In reading the article, it looks like the coaches asked the compliance office about this BEFORE they did it and got a green light. So, I don't think the coaches can be punished if the compliance officer misread the rules. Now someone needs to kick some tail in the compliance office. I agree that these are ticky tack violations. The problem now is that we have to keep our skirts really clean for the next 6 years in all sports because we would be again death penalty eligible should we mess up.

The over reaction to this is unbelievable.

[GiddyUp]

regardless we are now tied with ASU for most major infractions... we're #1, we're #1!!!

And nothing to show for it either

[PoconoPony]

After all the problems SMU has had with rule violations, what is surprising is that the University, while presumably buying into the Orsini initative that became the "Circle Of Champions" program did not mandate that the Athletic Department, or perhaps an independent office within the structure of the school keep all current with the NCAA rules and continuously inform all the coaches, everyone, of what is permitted. This would include annual classes, comprehensive training for new hires, updates by e-mail as necessary and so on. If there is ever a Sports Management major at SMU the same classes would be one of the requiremnts.

Our current chief compliance officer is a very arrogant, dogmatic and pompus personality who grates on the nerves of everyone. The nature of the job almost dictates a bit of a dictating and somewhat adversarial relationship with the coaches, but is compounded at SMU with a difficult personality with whom people do not enjoy working.

[RGV Pony]

isnt it a female currently?

[Pony4Life]

After all the problems SMU has had with rule violations, what is surprising is that the University, while presumably buying into the Orsini initative that became the "Circle Of Champions" program did not mandate that the Athletic Department, or perhaps an independent office within the structure of the school keep all current with the NCAA rules and continuously inform all the coaches, everyone, of what is permitted. This would include annual classes, comprehensive training for new hires, updates by e-mail as necessary and so on. If there is ever a Sports Management major at SMU the same classes would be one of the requiremnts.

The athletic department does inform employees constantly, and that is the compliance department's responsibility. Memorizing every compliance rule related to the legalities of recruiting is like memorizing the yellow pages — the list is endless. Most coaches not named Tressell know a lot of the rules, but it is impossible to know them all. Compliance departments exist for this very reason: to keep the coaches aware of rules and to make sure the entire university — not just coaches and not even just the athletic department — follows compliance rules. That the former compliance officer is not at SMU anymore while this punishment (albeit a minor one) hits SMU is a little like USC getting hit after Pete Carroll skips town to the Seattle Seahawks. He dropped the ball, and split town before the punishment was handed down.

No. they dismissed the compliance officer. The school has basically said in so many words that it wasn't his fault. From the press release sent out from SMU today,
"Fewer than 100 text messages were sent after our mens head basketball coach received erroneous advice from a former SMU compliance officer."
"As soon as the head mens basketball coach realized, he immediately reported the violations."

I'm not defending him. We will have to buy out his contract - he did not "cause" anything. We will also need more money to attract anyone. Dismissing a coach on an "improved" year (we did better this year than last), in the middle of a contract, at a school with a history of mediocrity (we're not Duke), isn't exactly appealing to real talent.

Did SMU dismiss the officer? Or did the officer leave voluntarily? There have been people here pointing to Coach Geary, but do we even know that this happened last year, and not the year before, or the year before that?

The job would be attractive to middle-tier coaches, if they see the improvement of this year and study the influx of talent. That's not to say the ghost of John Wooden will call Steve-O's office, nor will Coach K try to leave Duke. But if the job comes open, there would be viable candidates, and that list goes beyond Billy Gillespie.

But there will not be a change. Coach Doherty won 17 games in a season in which little was expected, within the university or outside the university. After a season that can be interpreted as one in which SMU at least started to right the ship, Steve-O isn't going to dismiss Coach Doherty in what would amount to an admission that he (Steve-O) made a mistake in that hire. The university is almost praising the basketball staff for immediately reporting this violation, and preparing for for a possible postseason bid.

[RGV Pony]

Did SMU dismiss the officer? Or did the officer leave voluntarily? There have been people here pointing to Coach Geary, but do we even know that this happened last year, and not the year before, or the year before that?

If by officer they mean the Assoc AD/Director of compliance, at that time it was Jeff Konya, who left to become the AD at Cal St Bakersfield

[Pony4Life]

regardless we are now tied with ASU for most major infractions... we're #1, we're #1!!!

Does this really qualify as "major?"

If so, what Tressel did is a felony that merits life without parole.

Our current chief compliance officer is a very arrogant, dogmatic and pompus personality who grates on the nerves of everyone. The nature of the job almost dictates a bit of a dictating and somewhat adversarial relationship with the coaches, but is compounded at SMU with a difficult personality with whom people do not enjoy working.

So what? Do you like everyone with whom you work? I don't, but I still have to interact with them and do my job, just like they have to do theirs. I have only met one person in the compliance department, and personality is not an issue — couldn't be nicer. But that's irrelevant. This isn't about current compliance staff.

[Lotus]

If by officer they mean the Assoc AD/Director of compliance, at that time it was Jeff Konya, who left to become the AD at Cal St Bakersfield

Actually, he went to some directional school in Oklahoma when he left SMU, but has since headed to California. Not sure if that's the guy in question, nor does it matter, since the violator no longer works at SMU, apparently.

In reading the article, it looks like the coaches asked the compliance office about this BEFORE they did it and got a green light. So, I don't think the coaches can be punished if the compliance officer misread the rules. Now someone needs to kick some tail in the compliance office. I agree that these are ticky tack violations. The problem now is that we have to keep our skirts really clean for the next 6 years in all sports because we would be again death penalty eligible should we mess up.

Bingo. Move along. Nothing to see here.

The over reaction to this is unbelievable.

It hurts my brain to agree with anything Big10PattonMM ever says, but I couldn't agree more on this.

If every PonyFan supported our teams with as much zeal as they go after mistakes, there would never be an empty seat at any event.