University of Utah and Brigham Young University basketball officials say they will comply with the NCAA’s request for all Division I men’s basketball programs to conduct internal reviews in light of a federal investigation into recruiting improprieties at a number of schools across the nation.
Assistant coaches at five schools were charged with crimes last month for allegedly steering high-profile recruits to certain agents and financial advisors in exchange for kickbacks. An Adidas executive also was charged for allegedly arranging bribes in an effort to get recruits to commit to Adidas-sponsored schools.
Days after the charges were handed down, Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak decried the culture of cheating in college basketball but said he did not feel the need to look deeper at his own program. Given the NCAA’s request, however, university compliance officials will conduct a review.
“We plan to do one,” Utah basketball spokesman Dameon Myers said. “There’s no timetable yet, but we are planning to do one … as mandated by the NCAA.”
BYU coach Dave Rose said last month that he had met with athletics director Tom Holmoe to discuss recruits individually in light of the federal indictments.
“We’ve discussed our recruits and individually how we’ve gone about offering scholarships,” Rose said then, “and tuition, books, fees and room and board seem to the be the norm.”
But BYU officials said they are still in the process of completing their review as requested by the NCAA. The school also is working with the NCAA on eligibility issues regarding junior guard Nick Emery and his ties with a school booster, though the two issues are being handled separately.
Three other programs in the state — Utah Valley, Utah State, and Weber State — all have completed their own reviews, and officials from each school said they found no violations to report.
Southern Utah University is in the process of completing its review.
“Upon receiving notice from the NCAA requesting we do an evaluation of our men’s basketball program, Southern Utah University has been working diligently with our conference office, other institutions and our general counsel in an effort to ensure that the team that represents our institution this year is one that is eligible to do so in every aspect,” the university’s compliance department said in a statement. “The process we have elected to complete is one that our institution, fans, student-athletes, department, staff and coaches can have confidence in as it relates to our overall values.”
The federal investigation has led to charges against assistant coaches at Arizona (Emanuel Richardson), Oklahoma State (LaMont Evans), Auburn (Chuck Person), and the University of Southern California (Tony Bland). The indictments also allege a scheme by an Adidas executive, Jim Gatto, to pay about $100,000 to the family of an unnamed prospect for his commitment to a university. In the wake of the charges, Rick Pitino was fired as coach of the University of Louisville.
FBI officials have called the scandal “the dark underbelly of college basketball.” The NCAA and Pac-12 both have formed task forces to look at ways to address basketball’s recruiting problems.
“We cannot go into the next basketball season without seeing fundamental change in the way college basketball is operating,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said this week at a meeting of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. “The public doesn’t have sufficient confidence in any of us in terms of our ability to resolve these issues.”
The Asociated Press contributed to this report.