NCAA Suspends Wisconsin Players
M A D I S O N, Wis., Sept. 1, 2000 -- Things could’ve been worse for theWisconsin Badgers, but only if they lost their first game.
The NCAA suspended 26 Wisconsin football players Thursday forone to three games for receiving unadvertised discounts at a shoestore after initially declaring 81 Badgers athletes ineligible forthe infractions.
The fourth-ranked Badgers still found a way to beat WesternMichigan 19-7 in their home opener Thursday night despite the benching of 11 players. The suspensions were announced hours before the game.
The suspended players included starting cornerback JamarFletcher, receiver Nick Davis, offensive lineman Ben Johnson, linebacker Bryson Thompson and team captain Chris Chambers. They were suspended for three games forreceiving benefits of more than $500, school officials said.
Another 15 players, including running back Michael Bennett,defensive tackle Wendell Bryant, cornerback Mike Echols andlinebacker Bryson Thompson, were suspended for one game and orderedto do 12 hours of community service.
‘Tremendous Disappointment’
“I think you have tremendous disappointment. You have to feelfor them,” Wisconsin athletic director Pat Richter said. “We feltthis was not warranted.”
The suspensions stem from reports last month that members of thefootball and men’s basketball teams may have received specialcredit arrangements at The Shoe Box in Black Earth, Wis., that werenot available to other clients.
Another 21 players, including starting quarterback BrooksBollinger, who was not suspended, were ordered to perform 24 hoursof community service for the discounts they received.
Women’s soccer player Wynter Pero was suspended for two gamesand ordered to do 24 hours of community service.
All will be required to repay the discounts they received.
More Investigations
The school has also investigated allegations that some athletes mayhave exchanged university-issued shoes for merchandise but found noevidence of that so far, said Melany Newby, vice chancellor forlegal and executive affairs.
A report in the Wisconsin State Journal detailed purchases byeight members of the Badgers’ Final Four men’s basketball team and14 players from the Rose Bowl champion football team. The paperreported players received discounts of 25 percent to 40 percent andinterest-free credit.
The university and NCAA still have to review the eligibility ofwinter athletes, who also could face penalties.
The NCAA notified the university Monday that 81 fall athleteswould be ineligible in various capacities. Richter said theuniversity appealed the finding, and the NCAA then decided to knockdown the number of athletes required to serve suspensions and payreparations to 48.
Richter said the university proposed lighter sanctions when theymade their initial report to the NCAA, and many of the players toldNCAA officials they did not know they had violated any rules.
“This was a shock to them,” Richter said.
NCAA spokesman Wally Renfro confirmed the suspensions but wouldnot comment specifically on the infractions.
Continuing Investigation
Shoe Box owner Steve Schmitt said Thursday he talked touniversity officials several times about the discounts he offeredplayers, which he said are extended to all his regular customers.
Schmitt has men’s basketball season tickets and has donatedmoney to the university in the past, which would qualify him as abooster under NCAA rules.
Newby said the university’s investigation was continuing and theschool had not made a recommendation to the NCAA whether theviolations constitute a major or secondary violation. But theplayers’ transgressions individually were ruled to be secondary.
If the purchases constitute a major rules violation, it would bethe third such infraction within the last decade for theuniversity.
Other Infractions
The wrestling program was put on probation in 1994 for improperuse of booster funds that included impermissible benefits toathletes, a major rules violation.
Last year, the NCAA found the athletic department had committeda major rules infraction because coaches and staff members receivedreimbursement for expenses from a boosters fund without approvalfrom the chancellor. That probation was scheduled to end inNovember.
Still, the NCAA Committee on Infractions did not penalize theuniversity under repeat violator rules last year, partly becauseWisconsin self-reported the violations.