Neuheisel escapes NCAA sanctions
SEATTLE — Former Washington coach Rick Neuheisel escaped sanctions by the NCAA Wednesday for gambling in a college basketball pool, but the university had its probation extended two years.
Washington’s NCAA probation — initially imposed because of men’s basketball recruiting violations — now runs until Feb. 9, 2007. The school was also reprimanded for failing to monitor the football program.
Thomas E. Yeager, chair of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, said that Neuheisel avoided punishment because the school’s compliance officer had written memos mistakenly saying that participation in gambling pools was allowed.
“Sports wagering is a problem that continues to threaten the well-being of student-athletes and coaches and the integrity of intercollegiate athletics,” Yeager said. “If not for unique and unusual mitigating circumstances in this case, the outcome certainly would have been different. This case should not be interpreted in any fashion as a softening of the NCAA’s antigambling position.”
Neuheisel coached four seasons at Colorado before compiling a 33-16 record in four seasons with the Huskies, including a Rose Bowl victory.
Neuheisel was fired in June 2003 by then-athletic director Barbara Hedges after he acknowledging taking part in a high-priced NCAA college basketball tournament pool.
Neuheisel twice told Hedges that he had never taken part in gambling pools, when in fact he had won $11,219 in two of them — winnings he donated to a local school.
The NCAA said in its report it was “very troubled” Neuheisel initially lied, but said that because of the memos, it could find no evidence that he intentionally broke the rules. Neuheisel was never charged with ethical violations for lying because he told the truth later the same day, Yeager said.
The outcome could lead to Neuheisel’s return to college coaching.
University attorney Lou Peterson said it would likely have no impact on a wrongful termination lawsuit Neuheisel filed against the university, set for trial Jan. 24. The university argues that Neuheisel broke his contract by being dishonest.
Washington escaped serious penalties that may have resulted if the NCAA cited the school for lack of institutional control. The NCAA did, however, find repeated instances in which the school failed to monitor the football program.
In addition to Neuheisel’s gambling violations, the NCAA cited pool betting by other members of the athletic department, including former compliance officer Dana Richardson, who wrote memos clearing Neuheisel.
The NCAA also cited the football program for undercharging recruits and their parents for rides in a 65-foot yacht and other private boats between 2000 and 2003, and for allowing impermissible contact between a football booster and recruits.
Washington had already imposed several punishments on itself following an internal investigation of the football program, all related to limiting the number of expense-paid visits recruits can make to the campus in the 2004-05 academic year. The NCAA extended those penalties to 2005-06.