FAYETTEVILLE — Two Arkansas national championships were wiped off the books by the NCAA Infractions Committee on Thursday.
The Razorbacks' track and field program has to vacate NCAA Outdoor titles won in 2004 and 2005 because of violations committed by former assistant coach Lance Brauman during the recruitment and process of enrolling track star Tyson Gay at UA. The Arkansas men's athletic program was placed on three years' probation.
Arkansas officials said they plan to appeal the penalties. The school has until early November to notify the appeals committee of its intention, and then 30 days to file an appeal.
"As we previously acknowledged, the violations in this case primarily involved a rogue former assistant coach and one student-athlete over a short period of time," UA Chancellor John White said in a released statement. "We are disappointed with the penalties imposed by the infractions committee and believe they are disproportionate to the violations.
"The university vigorously investigated and self-reported the violations, and then implemented corrective measures andself-imposed penalties, including a reduction of scholarships and a period of probation."
Arkansas Coach John McDonnell grimly declined comment when reached by telephone in Kentucky, where the Razorbacks will attempt to win their 34th consecutive conference cross country championship Saturday.
"I can't even comment on it because we're appealing it," McDonnell said. "We'll see with the appeal what will happen with that. We have 30 days."
McDonnell reacted briefly to the idea of losing two of the 42 national championships he has won in track and field and crosscountry.
"Oh yeah, I would say it was [a heavy blow]," McDonnell said. "I can't comment on it. I'm sorry. I would if I could."
Arkansas is not the first track program to vacate a national championship, but it is not a common occurrence. Texas El-Paso lost its 1983 Outdoor title because of recruiting violations, but there have not been many other high-profile dockings. UCLA vacated its 1995 women's softball championship, Hawaii lost its 2002 men's volleyball title and Syracuse lost the 1990 lacrosse championship.
The violations Brauman committed involved Gay, a national champion sprinter and a major component of the Razorbacks' championship-winning teams. A school investigation revealed Brauman arranged for Gay to take a correspondence course and arranged for tutoring and transportation in the summer of 2003.
Brauman had coached Gay at Barton County (Kan.) Community College before becoming an Arkansas assistant the year before Gay enrolled. Arkansas investigated Brauman after the coach was convicted in federal court in Kansas on felony charges of theft and embezzlement.
Brauman resigned after his conviction and served a year in prison in Texarkana. He was released in September.
Gay was a two-time national champion and seven-time All-American, but he will have to vacate his individual awards. The Razorbacks also have to vacate conference titles won with Gay's participation.
"I don't want to speak for the university by any means, but I think getting two national championships [vacated] ... is not a small deal," said Josephine Potuto, chairman of the Division I committee on infractions.
The university had sent a nine-man delegation to present its case to the NCAA on Aug. 12 in Indianapolis.
Potuto said in a teleconference announcing the penalties that none of the violations committed by Brauman was serious taken alone. It was the number of violations committed and the fact this was Arkansas' third appearance in front of the infractions committee in the past decade that made the case more serious.
The basketball team in 1997 and the football team in 2003 also ran afoul of the NCAA. Potuto called Arkansas a rare"double repeat-violator."
"The underlying violations were not egregious in and of themselves, but in combination they formed a major case, particularly when you consider they all involve this world-class athlete," Potuto said.
Along those lines, the committee determined the vacation of records was more appropriate to the circumstances of this case than the scholarship reduction imposed by the university. Consequently, the committee informed Arkansas it could hand out its normal limit of 12.6 scholarships for the 2007-2008 season if it desires instead of abiding by its self-imposed reduction ofthree scholarships.
Arkansas might have lost a third national title, the 2005 Indoors, but Gay was injured and did not compete.
Potuto said she couldn't say how much Arkansas' two previous cases affected the penalties handed out to the track and field team. She said first-time offenders or schools that hadn't gotten in trouble in a significant amount of time would be treated differently.
"[Arkansas' history] obviously had an impact," Potuto said. "[Other schools] are going to be treated differently in terms of the assessment of the severity of the conduct and probablyalso the penalties than would an institution that had been there before.
"[The violations] would have been a major case even without the prior history."
It didn't help that Arkansas' current violations were a pet peeve with the infractions committee. Potuto said the committee is upset with the "growing problem" with potential student-athletes on campus before enrolling.
"The committee has been writing in its reports for many years now there needs to be increased attention paid when you have a prospect on campus," Potuto said. "This is the last in a series of cases in which violations occurred because attention to that monitoring was not done."
The probation covers all the men's programs, not just Mc-Donnell's track and field teams. Another violation in any sport could result in more severe sanctions.
"[Probation] runs to the institution, not to a particular team," Potuto said. "It's a period in which the committee hopes and expects there will be enhanced attention paid to compliance and other issues on campus.
"If there are violations committed while a school is on probation, then the next case would be considered more seriously."Revised numbers19NCAA Indoor titles (1984-1995, 1997-2000, 2003, 2005-2006)10NCAA Outdoor titles (1985, 1992-1999, 2003)11NCAA Cross Country titles (1984, 1986-1987, 1990-1993, 1995,1998-2000)40NCAA cross country, indoor and outdoor titles33SWC/SEC Cross Country titles (1974-2006)25SWC/SEC Indoor titles (1979, 1981-1995, 1997-2003, 2005-2006)20SWC/SEC Outdoor titles (1982-1985, 1988-2000, 2003-2005)78SWC/SEC titles
Sports, Pages 25, 32 on 10/26/2007