Gu Money Probe Has Fitzgerald In Limbo Investigation Continues Over A.D.’S Role In Collection, Spending Of Funds

For the first time in 18 years, Gonzaga University has opened fall classes without Dan Fitzgerald manning the rudder of its athletic department.

As GU students and staff filtered back to campus last weekend, the Bulldogs’ longtime athletic director and former men’s basketball coach remained at home contemplating an uncertain future while school officials continued their investigation into what they say was his collection and disbursement of funds without the knowledge of the university’s controller’s office.

Although details of how the funds were raised or spent have not been made public, such actions would seem to be a violation of Article 6.2.3.1 of the NCAA Manual, which says all expenditures for, or in behalf of, a Division I school’s athletics programs shall be subject to an annual financial audit, conducted for the school by a qualified auditor who is not a staff member of the institution.

The seriousness of the matter was emphasized in early July when GU placed Fitzgerald on paid administrative leave and asked him not to return to campus until the investigation is completed.

University officials and athletic department personnel who have been interviewed as part of the investigation have refused to discuss details of the probe or whether they know anything about whether Fitzgerald mismanaged funds.

Leo Driscoll, GU’s corporation counsel and head of the investigation, has refused to take phone calls concerning the probe, instead referring all inquiries to Dale Goodwin, the school’s director of public relations.

Goodwin confirmed earlier this week that the investigation centers around athletic department expenditures that were not authorized by the university.

Goodwin said “every dollar spent or taken in” by the university is supposed to be reported to the controller.

“There is no money at the university that has been spent outside the auspices of the controller’s office - except this fund that has been used by the athletic department,” Goodwin explained. “Why it’s a problem is that these funds that were spent were not figured into the gender equity equation, for example, and therefore not reflected on the report that we’re required to give the NCAA on an annual basis.

“So, depending on how and where that money from an outside fund might have been spent, the university could be liable for (lack) of institutional control.”

Goodwin would not comment on what the investigation has uncovered thus far in terms of how long the fund in question has been in existence or how the money was raised or spent.

Fitzgerald, who resigned as men’s basketball coach at the end of last season to devote his full attention to his duties as A.D., has not publicly acknowledged any unreported expenditures. When contacted last week for this article, Fitzgerald said he and the university agreed to not discuss the investigation with the media.

Several of his former players backed his earlier claim that no money was used to compensate athletes beyond NCAA limits.

Former Bulldog forward Scott Snider was interviewed by Driscoll last month prior to returning to Holland, where he plays professionally for Groningen Donar. At the insistence of Driscoll, he declined to detail the line of questioning.

“I know they’re looking at how some funds were used by Fitz,” Snider said in a phone interview from his apartment in Groningen. “I know I never got paid anything more than the money for my scholarship and $15 a day for meals when we were on the road. And I’m 100 percent sure nobody else did, either.

“I don’t know the ins and outs of everything, but I never saw any violations when I was there, and I’m behind Fitz 100 percent from what I know.”

Former backup guard Kevin Williams, who will serve as a graduate assistant this season under first-year men’s basketball coach Dan Monson, said any suggestion that players might have been paid were “ridiculous” and “a whole lot of bull.”

Geoff Goss, a guard on Fitzgerald’s 1993-94 team that made it to the National Invitation Tournament, said if there was such a fund he never saw any money.

“I would have loved to have had some additional money,” he said, “but I didn’t get anything. People might have thought some of us (players) were getting paid because we all had nice cars, but that was because most of us were from well-off families.”

Jay Hillock, who took over the men’s basketball program for four seasons (1982-1985) when Fitzgerald initially gave up that part of his dual role only to return to coaching when Hillock resigned, said he was unaware of any financial improprieties while he was at GU.

“I wasn’t the A.D., so money wasn’t something I really worried about,” recalled Hillock, who is now the director of scouting for the Vancouver Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association. “We got just so much to recruit with and other than worrying that it was never enough, I never was really involved in the (financial) thing.

“I do know one thing, though. Fitz never kept one receipt in his life, so there will never be a paper trail one way or the other.”

Hillock’s brother, Joe, was a longtime assistant under Fitz until 1991. He, too, said he was unaware of any mismanagement of funds.

“I receipted everything and turned it back into the finance people,” said Joe Hillock, now head women’s basketball coach at Southern Utah State in Cedar City, Utah.

“If I put in a requisition for $100 and came back with $20, I would have receipts showing $80 for whatever, and I would put it all in an envelope and hand deliver it to the cashier’s office. That was our standard operating procedure.”

According to Goodwin, Driscoll and Chuck Murphy, the school’s vice president of finance, are conducting the majority of the investigation interviews. Most athletic department staff members have been interviewed, and selected student athletes are expected to meet with investigators in the near future.

Goodwin said it would be “really unpredictable” to put a time frame on the investigation at this point.

“It is certainly in our best interests to get the information out as soon as possible,” Goodwin said. “But I know Leo Driscoll is the kind of guy who wants to make sure every ‘t’ is crossed and every ‘i’ is dotted.

“Hopefully, we’ll have some sort of conclusion sometime between October and December.”

Goodwin said investigators have met with enforcement officials from the NCAA to ensure proper procedures are followed.

Acting university President Harry H. Sladich said a formal report on the findings of the school’s investigation will be sent to both the NCAA and the West Coast Conference, of which GU is a member.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald said he has been assigned by the university to the United Way’s loaned executive program.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FOLLOWING THE MONEY At issue: A continuing probe into alleged collection and disbursement of funds, allegedly headed by GU athletic director and ex-men’s basketball coach Dan Fitzgerald, without the knowledge of the university. Potential NCAA violation: Article 6.2.3.1, which says all expenditures for, or in behalf of, a Division-I school’s athletics programs shall be subject to an annual financial audit.