NCAA says Eastern Michigan didn’t monitor women’s basketball under ex-coach; gets probation

Takeaway: The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has found Easter Michigan University failed to monitor its women’s basketball program under former head coach AnnMarie Gilbert, which has caused the program to be put on two additional years of probation. The underlying violations involved exceeding practice hour limitations and workouts with prospective student-athletes. Additional penalties included a loss of 5 official visits, the loss of two countable hours per week during the playing season, the loss of one countable hour per week during the off-season and a two-year show-cause order for Gilbert. A full analysis of this case will appear in Monday’s blog post.

UH athletics audit finds possible NCAA violations

Takeaway: An internal audit of the University of Hawaii Athletics department discovered possible violations of NCAA legislation involving summer camps associated with the institution’s football program. The audit revealed the athletic department used $78,000 raised at football scholarship dinners to boost the salaries of the coaches and staff who ran the camps. The NCAA requires member institutions to properly document all sport camp revenues and expenses. Additionally, the institution waived fees for 44 camp participants, which raises concerns should any of those prospective student-athletes have went on to participate on the football team at Hawaii.

IU freshmen Mosquera-Perea and Jurkin suspended 9 games

Takeaway: Indiana freshmen Peter Jurkin and Hanner Mosquera-Perea have been suspended nine games by the NCAA for receiving improper benefits from an AAU coach while in high school. Specifically, the NCAA determined that money provided by the student-athlete’s Indiana Elite AAU coach Mark Adams were impermissible benefits because he was considered a representative of the institution’s athletics interests. Adams had provided the institution a total of $185 to the university between 1986-92.

NCAA Won’t Alter Marijuana Rule After States Decriminalize Use

Takeaway: NCAA President Mark Emmert announced this week he does not expect member institutions to change NCAA legislation on drug use even after Washington and Colorado voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana in those states. NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson further commented that the state legalization “does not impact the NCAA drug-testing rules because the ban and testing policies are not tied to whether a substance is legal for general population use, but rather whether the substance is considered a threat to student- athletes’ health and safety or the integrity of the game.”

Texas Tech Receives Resolution Regarding NCAA Issues, Self-Imposed Penalties

Takeaway: Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt announced this week that the NCAA accepted the institution’s self-imposed penalties regarding practice hour limitation violations under former head men’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie. The penalties imposed by the institution included a reduction in practice time over a four-week period during the fall of 2012.

Which follows on this from 2010: NCAA opens formal investigation of Eastern Michigan women’s basketball program

You’ll remember that EMU and Central Michigan had an “instant classic” match up for the 2012 MAC Championship. Wonder how CMU is feeling today?

AnnMarie Gilbert, in February 2012.

According to an EMU press release this morning, women’s basketball head coach AnnMarie Gilbert has announced her resignation, effective tomorrow (Friday, April 6). The university, of course, is giving no explanation, and there are no other reports about this yet, but I’m quite confident that this resignation is for one of two reasons.

The first possibility is that, after her success at EMU over the past several years, Gilbert is being hired away by another school. Ann Arbor could be a likely destination — Kevin Borseth announced yesterday that he’s leaving the Wolverines to coach Green Bay — but going from Borseth’s announcement yesterday, which the Detroit News characterized as
“unexpected”, to an offer to Gilbert this morning would be an awfully fast decision by Michigan athletic director David Brandon. Michigan isn’t the only opening in women’s basketball, but I think it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see Gilbert coaching in Ann Arbor this fall.

The other possibility, which I think is far more likely, is that she has been pushed out at EMU as a result of the still-ongoing NCAA investigation. I heard some rumors this winter that there was more to come in this regard, and in particular, that the recruiting violations may have gone beyond those previously reported (organized workouts for prospects). When you consider that EMU’s announcement of Gilbert’s resignation concludes by mentioning that the “NCAA investigation into the women’s basketball program is still ongoing”, it’s obvious to guess that the resignation and the NCAA investigation are related. If I were to bet, I’d bet on that.

For women’s basketball, the Eagles are expected to finish second in the MAC West Division, although they received eight (out of 48) first-place votes at the media preview last week, as well as two votes to win the MAC tournament. Tavelyn James, a junior guard who led the Eagles in scoring last year with 20.7 points per game, was selected to the preseason All-MAC West Division team. The Eastern Echo says that the women’s basketball team is “anxious for [the] start of [the] season“. They’ve got some very optimistic quotes from head coach AnnMarie Gilbert and junior forward Paige Reddit. When a team is returning 10 letterwinners, four of them starters, from a team that went 22-9 last year, that kind of optimism is probably justified.

Men’s basketball gets much more attention of course. The EMU men’s team was picked to finish third in the West Division, picking up two (out of 24) first place votes, which would put them right about where they finished last year — no worse, but no better. Brandon Bowdry was selected for the preseason All-MAC West Division team (no surprise there!). The Eastern Echo hasn’t said much yet about the men’s team, but they do have video of Saturday’s Green & White Scrimmage. CBS Sports has a small three-part team preview up: Getting Inside, Notes & quotes, Strategy & personnel. Golden Grizzlies Gameplan, an Oakland University basketball fan blog, ranks EMU sixth out of Michigan’s seven Division I basketball teams for the upcoming year, ahead of only Western Michigan. In the same post, they list out all the intra-state games this season. EMU is scheduled to play four of the six other teams (Michigan State, Detroit, Western Michigan, and Central Michigan, with an additional chance to play Oakland if each team wins their first game in the Lou Henson Tournament; no other team plays more than three.

In my initial post yesterday, I noted that the university mentioned several “areas of concern” in which violations appear to have occurred but there was insufficient evidence to take action. A key point was that at a team meeting led by assistant coach Darin Thrun in the fall of 2009, while head coach AnnMarie Gilbert was out of town, “[e]vidence suggests, but does not confirm, that student-athletes were directed to give false information about the number of hours they were required to practice and the voluntary nature of practices.” Practice time violations are certainly serious enough, but if a coach instructed students to lie to investigators, that would take this to a whole different level.

While Gilbert was suspended without pay for one month, Thrun was indefinitely suspended with pay. I can only think of one reason for an indefinite suspension: Gragg expects something further to happen or some additional information to come out.

In a statement yesterday, Derrick Gragg said, “We obviously take the matter very seriously, are cooperating fully with the NCAA and have provided a formal self report and self-imposed sanctions. While I am disappointed, I am confident that Coach Gilbert will learn from this and that this will make her an even better coach in the future. The issuance of self-imposed sanctions does not preclude further disciplinary action” (my emphasis).

This kind of violation has gotten coaches and athletic directors fired, not every time, but often enough that it wouldn’t be a surprise. This is pure speculation, but it certainly seems to me that, while Gilbert’s job is safe for now, Thrun may not be at EMU much longer.

Players on the 2008 and 2009 teams described training and practice sessions that far exceeded limits set by the NCAA, which governs college athletics. The restrictions are designed to protect players’ well-being, ensure adequate study time and prevent schools from gaining an unfair competitive advantage.

That quote is taken from a write-up the Detroit Free Press did on the Michigan football violations more than a year ago, but it just as well could have been written this afternoon about the EMU women’s basketball team.

Obviously basketball and football are very different sports, which place different demands on student-athletes at different times of the year, but there are some fundamental similarities between the two sets of violations. In both cases, practices exceeded NCAA limits on length. In both cases “voluntary activities” were treated by coaches as mandatory. In both cases, activities that are required to be player-initiated and to have no coaches present were initiated by coaches who then stayed around to observe.

For their four violations, the Michigan football program reduced its training time by 130 hours over two years (two hours for every hour of violation, which is fairly standard),  reduced the number of certain staff positions, took disciplinary action against “seven individuals who shared in responsibility”, and agreed to two years of probation.

EMU seems to have taken similar steps, reducing practice time during the 2010-11 season, suspending head coach AnnMarie Gilbert without pay for one month, suspending assistant coach Darin Thrun with pay indefinitely, reprimanding Gilbert and Thrun as well as assistant coach LaTonya Tate and assistant athletic trainer Megan Snow, and going on probation for two years.

EMU took additional steps to address the fact that two of the violations dealt with recruiting, reducing expense-paid recruiting visits for the next two years, prohibiting open gym activities for prospects for two years, requiring coaches to submit detailed practice schedules to the compliance office each week, requiring an academic advisor to travel with the team to ensure that adequate time is available for players to study during road trips, requiring the top three coaches to attend an NCAA rules session, and mandatory counseling for Gilbert during her suspension.

The good news is that, unlike U-M, EMU does not have any recent history of NCAA violations that I could find, meaning that the Eagles are probably safe from any “loss of instutional control” issues, which can lead to more severe sanctions. I personally don’t find AnnMarie Gilbert’s claim that she misunderstood what constituted “countable hours” very compelling; compliance is part of the job, and given the allegations a year ago on that very issue, you would think she would have taken the time to be sure she had the program on solid ground. I’m not necessarily arguing that this is a firing offense, but Gilbert has got to be on pretty thin ice with Derrick Gragg right now, especially given his background in compliance.

According to a memo from Assistant Athletics Director Dr. Melody Werner, on July 27, 2010, a member of the women’s basketball team informed the compliance department of potential violations, which triggered an investigation running from August 23 through September 17.

Violation 1: Excessive practice time.

NCAA rules limit practice time to 4 “countable hours” per day and 20 per week. Head Coach AnnMarie Gilbert’s statement indicates that she thought “countable hours” started when skill instruction began, rather than when players were required to arrive for practice.

Violation 2: Improper coach involvement in voluntary practices.

There are a variety of conditions for athletic activity to be considered voluntary. Among them, the player isn’t required to report back to a coach, and no staff member observing the activity is permitted to report back to a coach. The activity must be initiated and requested solely by the student-athlete. In 2009 and 2010, EMU women’s basketball summer workouts, which were ostensibly voluntary, violated many of the conditions set out by the NCAA. Among other things, coaches watched through windows and when student-athletes left the gym (e.g. to get water) gave instruction. Team members understood that the workouts were required by Gilbert.

Violations 3 & 4: Organized workouts for prospects.

Prospects are allowed to participate in athletic activities during campus visits, but only if the activity is not organized or observed by any member of the coaching staff, and is not designed to test the athletic abilities of the prospect. During both official and unofficial visits, coaches scheduled prospects for open gym time with current team members, escorted prospects to the practice gym, and frequently stayed to watch them practice with current team members.

The university listed several additional “areas of concern”, in which it appears that violations may have occurred.

In the fall of 2009, the university was investigating practice hours. At a team meeting led by assistant coach Darin Thrun (Gilbert was out of town at the time), “[e]vidence suggests, but does not confirm, that student-athletes were directed to give false information about the number of hours they were required to practice and the voluntary nature of practices.” Also, team activities are prohibited after games (except between rounds in a multi-event competition), and some players stated that the team was required to watch film in the evening after a game.

Athletic Director Derrick Gragg announced the following sanctions for the program:

• Two-years probation
• A reduction in countable athletically-related activities as follows:
  • Fall 2010: Total of 14 hours a week (-6 hours a week)
  • Winter 2011: Total of 15 hours a week (-5 hours a week)
  • Student-athletes will receive two days off weekly during the 2010-11 Mid-American Conference season
• A reduction in the number of expense-paid recruiting visits from 12 per year to 10 per year in 2010-11 and 2011-12
• Recreational/open gym activities for prospects prohibited for the women’s basketball program for two years
• Additional educational sessions for the women’s basketball staff and strength and conditioning staff members (A.D. will attend to re-enforce the seriousness of the situation)
• Detailed practice schedules submitted to Compliance Office each week; Compliance will continue to spot check practices/voluntary workouts
• CARA forms submitted weekly, and the entire team must sign to verify accuracy
• Tutor/Academic Advisor to travel with the team to ensure that there are at least three hours of mandatory study time per day while on the road
• Monthly meetings between the academic support staff and the head coach has been implemented and will be increased to twice monthly

In addition, disciplinary action is being taken against the coaching staff:

AnnMarie Gilbert, Head Coach

• Suspended without pay for one month
• Salary freeze for 2010-11
• Mandatory counseling during her 30-day suspension
• Letter of Reprimand
• Apology to team members
• Attend NCAA Regional Rules Seminar – Pay own costs, provide full summary of all rules sessions attended to Compliance Office

Darin Thrun, Assistant Coach

• Indefinite suspension with pay
• Salary freeze for 2010-11
• Letter of Reprimand
• Attend NCAA Regional Rules Seminar – Pay own costs; provide full summary of all rules sessions attended to Compliance Office

LaTonya Tate, Assistant Coach

• Letter of Reprimand
• Salary freeze for 2010-11
• Attend NCAA Regional Rules Seminar – Pay own costs; provide full summary of all rules sessions attended to Compliance Office

Megan Snow, Assistant Athletic Trainer

• Letter of Reprimand (Failure to report suspected rules violations regarding time limitations)
• Sign off on women’s basketball CARA (Countable Athletically Related Activities) logs for 2010-11 academic year

Blair Wagner, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach

• Educational session with supervisor regarding voluntary workouts