RebKell's Junkie Boards

[BallState1984]

News conference at 3 PM over infractions with the WBB program.

What a nice day for Indiana WBB news.

_________________
Terminally afffected with Our Girl Syndrome and proud of it!

[CamrnCrz1974]

Dear NCAA:

Leave Purdue alone already. Lin Dunn drama, Nell Fortner bolting, Carolyn Peck bolting, Curry drama, enough already. Let Purdue just keep winning.

[00NDROCKS]

Don't think so ...........

_________________
" My best seasons in the WNBA have been the two that I spent in Indiana. Not only did I get the chance to play in front of some of the most passionate fans in the WNBA, but I also had an incredible opportunity to play alongside one of the best players in the history of the game in Tamika Catchings. " ANNA DEFORGE.

[desafiada6]

[CamrnCrz1974]

[desafiada6]

[PUmatty]

A reduction in scholarships? Bullshit on that one. As soon as the athletic department became aware of the academic issue -- one paper -- George and Merriweather were both kicked to the curb. Curry was pushed out as well. Everything by the university was done as it should have been and all offending parties are long gone - thanks to the university action.

Given the things that I hear about other universities and teams and the things that go on in other sports, a reduction of scholarships in this case is beyond over-the-top.

If anything, Texas Tech should get penalized so that the punishment follows Curry.

[BallState1984]

You are preaching to the choir, Matty. It is a shame Versyp and the current crop of kids will have to pay for the FUBAR of Curry and Merriweather.

Curry should have known hiring Merriweather would create prblems; come on, the scope of her recruiting was limited to her daddy's AAU team's roster. Just a smidge bit of a conflict of interest there.

_________________
Terminally afffected with Our Girl Syndrome and proud of it!

[sbjules]

[eyevolley4]

I suppose it's a form of encouraging improved monitoring of programs by university officials.

I disagree with the outcome here, but suppose I can see where they are coming from.

In the end, Purdue will persevere.

_________________
Some days are meant to be remembered.

[dtsnms]

Why self-monitor is they are going to dock you scholarships anyway?

I think the NCAA missed the boat here

[PUmatty]

[beknighted]

I'm curious about one thing - does Purdue normally fill all of its scholarships? I know a lot of schools don't, and that makes me wonder to what extent this is a real punishment or a symbolic one.

Also, are there any details on the terms of the probation? I seem to remember that the NCAA doesn't always adopt the same terms for everyone.

And I agree about the problem of sanctions not following the head coach, particularly when the NCAA concludes she stuck her head in the sand.

[lola528]

I think you have to self-monitor. If you don't, and try to sweep it under the rug, and THEN get caught, you can have the kind of sanctions that mean you lose half your scholarships and don't play in the post-season for the next gazillion years or something. THAT would be a disaster.

The report sounds awful, I know, and I'm personally totally p*ssed that Curry got off scot-free when she had to have known that something was not smelling like a rose. She should face some "public censure" herself (I think that's the way the NCAA put it), and lose a scholarship or two. And I don't think it's fair to put Purdue on "probation" for 2 years, when the causes of the problems are all gone, and Purdue suspended them IMMEDIATELY when they first suspected something wrong might have happened. And it appears that the NCAA didn't even take into consideration that the phone calls that they're saying are a MAJOR violation were made 1) to a recruit who had *already verballed to Purdue*, and therefore did not give us any "unfair recruiting advantage", and who 2) was losing her mother to cancer at the time. I guess that didn't matter to them.

Purdue eliminated one scholarship last year, and we weren't going to use more than 13 this year anyway, so that part doesn't hurt as badly as it could. We're fine for next year and from there on out, and with SV at the helm, we're not going to have any more problems like this. But still--it's bad press, no matter how you spin it, and the people who are left holding the bag are all blameless. So I don't think it's quite fair, and I'm bummed about that.

However, even with Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton out with the ACL, and even with Ms. Gearlds and Ms. Lawless gone--we're going to be a better team this year than most people think. Also, I think our coaches and our team and our recruits are going to take this as a sign that it's time to stick together and dig down deep and bring it. And I am so dead certain that they will that I'd bet the rent. BOILER UP!

[Richards]

* Loss of scholarship in 2006-07 (already self-imposed), and the loss of
two UNUSED scholarships in 2007-08.

* Two years of probation (probation is standard, but the NCAA does have
a record of some five-year terms of probation on major violations).

* Additional NCAA reporting requirements and mandatory staff education.

If the NCAA really wanted to hurt Purdue, they would have hit the scholarships in the 2008-09 class, banned postseason, voided games (and associated money from those games), or imposed a monetary fine. None of that happened. And there was no talk of the infamous NCAA line of "lack of institutional control".

I hate the NCAA's vision of justice more than anyone except maybe Katrina Merriweather, Cherelle George, Linn Dunn and Frank Kendrick. But these "punishments" are nothing but the NCAA coming in for a public comment and rebuke after Purdue had effectively handled the situation and self-penalized. Purdue's punishment was "time served" essentially. Keep in mind that Purdue lost a head coach, two assistants (Roland first for ratting out Merriweather, then later Merriweather), the Purdue women's SID (quit in disgust), the #1 recruiting class in 2006 and the top player in 2007, one scholarship from self-imposed penalties, and a likely Final Four berth in 2007.

And I still think the NCAA even bringing up the Merriweather phone calls to the committed Dee Dee Jernigan (over the period before and after her mother's death) and the extra benefits to Jernigan (flowers upon her mother's death), is inhumanly uncompassionate. Merriweather stated that essentially she would call Jernigan each morning to make sure she was out of bed and ok.

Then again, maybe I do hate the NCAA more than Merriweather, George, Dunn and Kendrick.

[Michael]

[00NDROCKS]

I'm not at all saying that Curry was right in what she did but she's not the first and she won't be the last to know and then jump ship.

_________________
" My best seasons in the WNBA have been the two that I spent in Indiana. Not only did I get the chance to play in front of some of the most passionate fans in the WNBA, but I also had an incredible opportunity to play alongside one of the best players in the history of the game in Tamika Catchings. " ANNA DEFORGE.

[Michael]

[UDHarvardBC]

Chronicle of Higher Education article on Purdue violations:

http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/08/2007082307n.htm

Thursday, August 23, 2007


NCAA Penalizes Purdue U. for Women's Basketball Violations
By BRAD WOLVERTON


The NCAA has placed Purdue University on probation for two years after finding that a former assistant women's basketball coach there helped a former player commit academic fraud, and later lied about it to investigators. It also found that the coach had made more than 100 impermissible recruiting calls.

Purdue, one of the country's elite programs, will lose two of its 15 scholarships this year. Katrina Merriweather, the former assistant coach, must appear before the NCAA's Division I Committee on Infractions if she wants to work in college sports in the next three years. And Cherelle George, the former player, has probably played in her last big-time college game.

Ms. Merriweather initially denied any wrongdoing. But when NCAA investigators searched the coach's computer, they discovered several deleted e-mail messages proving that she had written two papers for the player, according to the infractions committee's report.

In one message labeled "Paper," Ms. Merriweather wrote, "Here are some thoughts that should help. Make sure you read it and add your own info from class notes or any textbooks you use." A few hours later, the coach sent another message, saying, "Throw away the other one. This one is better and more organized."

Later, when Ms. Merriweather was working on a different paper for Ms. George, the two had a brief instant-message exchange:

"Hey Girl!" wrote the coach. "I will be finished around 9 p.m."

"Stop cakin' and finish the paper ... dang!" the player wrote.

In its report, the committee said it was "troubled" that Kristy Curry, Purdue's former head coach, had failed to notify the athletics director of the alleged violations when she first heard about them. Instead, she conducted her own investigation, determining that the allegations were not credible because of "bad blood" between Ms. Merriweather and another assistant coach. Ms. Curry is now the head coach at Texas Tech University; she faces no NCAA sanctions for her role in the ordeal.

In a conference call on Wednesday, Josephine R. Potuto, a professor of law at the University of Nebraska and the committee's chair, said coaches everywhere could learn from Purdue's situation.

"This case," she said, "is an object lesson in why coaches should not involve themselves in trying to help athletes in any way with academic work."

Purdue does not plan to appeal the penalties.

[ripleydc]

[00NDROCKS]