Memo to Georgia Tech: LSU shows how to handle the NCAA
Georgia Tech could have spared itself by being nicer. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Here’s a quote that should be posted on the wall of the Edge Center, which is the official name of the building that houses Georgia Tech’s athletic association. It comes from LSU chancellor Michael Martin in the wake of his school’s NCAA sanctions, which were announced Tuesday:
“A situation that could have been much worse was made better by the dedicated work of the LSU athletics compliance staff and I am pleased that the NCAA recognized LSU’s effort to cooperate and be proactive. The compliance staff … made an exemplary showing of how a university should react when mistakes are made.”
To recap: LSU was found guilty of major violations involving former assistant coach D.J. McCarthy, who’d been recruiting JUCO transfer Akiem Hicks. For this, the NCAA placed the Tigers on one year’s probation.
Point of comparison: Georgia Tech took what should have been a secondary violation and turned it into four years’ probation, a $100,000 fine and a forfeited conference championship.
The difference: LSU made a concerted attempt to find out what was what. Indeed, committee on infractions chairman Dennis Thomas pointed to Miriam Segar, the school’s associate AD, and her efforts to dig into a messy situation. Said Thomas: “That was critical. If that had not been done, the institution could have really been under more severe and serious penalties as well.”
LSU, to borrow from Sir Paul McCartney, took a sad song and made it better. Georgia Tech took what the NCAA described as an “obstructionist” stance and got slapped down. Two case studies, I’d call these.
Oh, and where did Dan Radakovich work before being hired as Tech’s athletic director in 2006? At LSU.
By Mark Bradley
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290 comments Add your comment
OldSchoolGT21
July 19th, 2011
9:27 pm
Mark Bradley – Turn your brain on next time. You can do better than this crap. Whether Tech was arrogant or simply felt it was innocent is immaterial to the final outcome that is WAYYYYY over the top and unjustified. Aren’t we all innocent until proven guilty? How can you punish 115 kids who did nothing wrong? They still haven’t proved anything other than a bunch of speculation and rubbish. The game was won on the field. I was there. One of the best ACC games ever. And we say THWG too….
Mischief Managed
July 19th, 2011
9:28 pm
Congrats to LSU for having the class of an SEC team while tech lied, cheated and covered up.
I agree Mark wholeheartedly, shame on Coach Paul Johnson and AD D-Rad!
TDone
July 19th, 2011
9:30 pm
Mark, so what you are telling me is that LSU BOHICA’d and Tech did not. LSU copped a plea and Tech did not.
Journalism is dead…
Somewhere over the Dwayne Bowe
July 19th, 2011
9:33 pm
The ACC is 4-0 against the SEC in bowl games the past two years, dawgfan.
Somewhere over the Dwayne Bowe
July 19th, 2011
9:35 pm
I don’t believe in the transitive property in college football, dawgfan, but we lost Kansas. Guess who else did? Colorado. Guess who they beat.
LSU to learn NCAA decision on violations – Seattle Post Intelligencer | The Wire
July 19th, 2011
9:36 pm
[...] For Recuiting Violations By CoachKTBSAfter LSU case, time for a new COI chairmanCBSSports.com (blog)Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) -Sacramento Bee -USA Today (blog)all 274 news [...]
Ramblin Man
July 19th, 2011
9:38 pm
Mischief managed,
Um that classy SEC team commited a MAJOR violation by the LSU staff idiot, oh and the classy SEC staff tried to hide it.
Somewhere over the Dwayne Bowe
July 19th, 2011
9:38 pm
By the way, dawgfan, the point of that comment wasn’t to suggest that Tech was somehow better than UGA last year. Clearly, UGA has been better over some time now. I just thought it was stupid to mention the Kansas loss.
If we ever get our act together against y’all in the first half of a game, though, we’ll beat UGA by three touchdowns.
TallaDawg
July 19th, 2011
9:40 pm
I guarantee your IQ is not 40 points higher than mine.
Tech grads are still nerds.
Paul in RDU
July 19th, 2011
9:40 pm
@Keeper
The NCAA has nothing on FIFA when it comes to unaccountability. It is the personal fiefdom of an ageing Swiss egomaniac and has $billions that it uses as a slush fund.
Somewhere over the Dwayne Bowe
July 19th, 2011
9:43 pm
You’re right, TallaDawg. It’s 50 points higher.
Nerds? Are you in the third grade. Grow up, son.
Keeper
July 19th, 2011
9:44 pm
Agreed, RDUPaul – NCAA is the closest second that comes to mind, though. Even IOC got taken down a peg by the Salt Lake City fiasco.
Ramblin Man
July 19th, 2011
9:47 pm
One last point and I am done. I again appluade the LSU compliance office for discovering and bringing this to light, but it is still LSU staff committing the offense and trying to cover it up and the NCAA seems to just ignore that fact. I also find it hard to believe that LSU staff would go this far to try and recruit this kid and yet with all the high profile recruits they get he was the only one worth doing this for. I also find it interesting that this decision does not effect LSU in any way in a year that they have a really good chance of playing for the SEC championship and then possibley going to the NC. I wonder what organization stands to make a whole mess of money if LSU does this.
GT Falcon
July 19th, 2011
9:53 pm
2009 ACC Champions. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT take that away from us. Don’t care what anyone says. NCAA, you’ve clearly shown what you are with the double standards. Hope our guys take their frustrations out on the ground. Go get your armor out.. it’s time to play ball. Up with the White and Gold! Go Jackets!
Mark (another one)
July 19th, 2011
9:56 pm
For a bunch of high IQ people, the Tech fans just don’t get it. Quit trying to read into all of this a conspiracy against Tech and understand that the NCAA demands cooperation when they come investigating.
Flying Tiger
July 19th, 2011
9:57 pm
Mr. Bradley, I have no dog in this fight, but seems you are taking a cheap shot at Tech. No wonder they call you bark madley. Very sorry article, I also wonder how you keep your job. Go Tigers!!!
BigTimeTechFan
July 19th, 2011
10:00 pm
Ramblin Man –
Your correct, it was a LSU coach that was caught in a lie about having the 2nd phone. NCAA and LSU admitted he lied. How is that full cooperation?
Tech issue was that Drad told coach Johnson about investigation, which there is no rule against. GT Admitted this conversation occured, yet this is not cooperation.
LSU to learn NCAA decision on violations – Seattle Post Intelligencer | Acessando Net
July 19th, 2011
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[...] investigation into LSU recruiting violations …NOLA.comKTBS -CBSSports.com (blog) -Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)all 280 news [...]
Brian M
July 19th, 2011
10:01 pm
I get it now. This is how it works with the ncaa.
If you are a little kid,named billy, and you steal a lollipop from the store and your mom and dad ask you about it and you say you didn’t and they later found out you did, you get whacked in the butt,4 years grounding, all the coins you saved up are confiscated and you lose your favorite toy, your hummer mini kid car for good.
But here’s Travis. He stole a lollipop too. But when confronted by his mommy, yes travis like lsu doesn’t know his baby daddy, he says hell yeah beytoch i took it. and his mommy says well dont do dat again. and you get grounded for a year. im goin out drinkin. tell yo sister to fix yo dinner.
so the moral of the story is cheat all you want. but when they (the idiotic parent) finds out, just tell them yo sorry and nuttin happens. that’s the problem with this country. the ncaa disciplines just like the way many parents do. you’re suppose to punish based on the incident. not whether you fessed up. good grief is the ncaa screwed up.
LHarding Dawg
July 19th, 2011
10:02 pm
Good Luck Jackets, I want you to win every game except one. You got screwed by the NCAA. While your case and the LSU case are not similar, the Tech and Ohio State cases are very similar. If the Tech sanctions are followed by the NCAA for Ohio State, they should get the death penality.
How do you lose your job at the AJC
July 19th, 2011
10:15 pm
The AJC is looking more and more like congress each day. Mark is single handedly the most ignorant writer they have. What’s a guy got to do to lose his job over there? How many stupid articles are you allowed to write without even reading fully the subject matter at hand to be well informed? Once you’re in, I guess you get to stay…wonder if they are union backed?
Eric
July 19th, 2011
10:20 pm
I bet if Mark was in Drad’s shoes, he would tell CPJ too. He was in a no win situation and the ncaa is a joke to do this to him. It would have put a big probably irreversable strain on their work relationship. I’ve talked to about 6 people, 2 uga fans about this and they all agree it was way to harsh a punishment. And when you look at what other schools get, it makes it even more of a joke. Fair would have been probation just like lsu. You don’t strip a freaking champ for something this petty. Watch what this does to PJ moxy. Tech is gonna roll over teams with an attitude this year. That is guaranteed. In a way this will work in GT’s favor.
Alpharare
July 19th, 2011
10:24 pm
Wasn’t it about a year ago that some idiot writer wrote “8 reasons why the Braves won’t squander this lead”. I believe so. I see he’s at it again with his uga prediction this afternoon. What an idiot.
ACC Champs: my T-shirt doesn't lie!
July 19th, 2011
10:28 pm
LSU and Tech are not apples to apples. Tech was in a unenviable position of being told to not tell the head coach about an investigation and suggested suspension of his best receiver. What kind of NCAA thinking is that?
How is that even remotely a reasonable request/demand?
Justin N
July 19th, 2011
10:29 pm
Mark must have missed the facts
Johnson said he’s still “stunned” by the NCAA’s actions. He never expected anything of significance would come of the investigation until, “They started ripping [former compliance director] Paul Parker in the hearing.”
He understood why the NCAA might be upset that athletic director Dan Radakovich informed him of the impending investigation after he been told not to, but said, “I knew there was no coverup. If we were trying to cover the thing up, we would’ve just said that Dan never told me anything. Their perception of what happened and my perception of what happened wasn’t close.”
Johnson’s perception: “That they came in here and talked to seven or eight kids and they didn’t find what they were looking for.
“I’ve been in this business a long time. You see all the things that are going on in college sports today, and you get slammed for this? I mean, come on now. I feel for Dan and [Tech president G.P. "Bud"] Peterson. I’ve known Dan since I got here. Dan Radakovich isn’t going to cheat or cover up anything. Did you get bad information or maybe make a bad decision? You can debate that. But I certainly wasn’t privy to any information we had.”
The Tech case will go down as one of the strangest in NCAA history. Investigators never found proof or established a paper trail indicating former players, specifically Demaryius Thomas and Morgan Burnett, received improper benefits from agents. But there was the suspicious matter of $312 worth of clothing given to Thomas. Radakovich also went against the NCAA’s mandate by forewarning Johnson (and indirectly players) of the investigation.
Henry
July 19th, 2011
10:31 pm
If Mark was in drads shoes, he would have told paul too. Any ath director would or they might as well fire their head coach. What a bs position to put a ad in. If anything, that marcus moron should be fired. Or perhaps he can get a job with the APS.
Heavy Dawg Walkin'
July 19th, 2011
10:36 pm
More importantly, did they serve fried fish and hushpuppies at the meeting after all?
Bali
July 19th, 2011
10:37 pm
Brian M…..If you have to appear in front of a judge for a wrongdoing, and you tell the judge that you screwed up and are guilty…..you have a greater chance of getting a lighter sentence. You’ll still get punished, but it’s up to the judge on maximum or minimum. It is what it is. If you don’t like the laws of the land, then get elected to congress and make some changes.
TheAntiMe
July 19th, 2011
10:39 pm
You’re right, Mark. LSU’s bend over and crack a smile approach did seem to be most effective in dealing with the NCAA.
@bali
July 19th, 2011
10:39 pm
You can also plead not guilty!
TheAntiMe
July 19th, 2011
10:44 pm
If you don’t like the laws of the land, then get elected to congress and make some changes.
That is a totally worthless comparison. Congress – at least, in theory – is a function of democracy. The NCAA is a blatant Fascist dictatorship. End of story.
MEMO TO BRADLEY
July 19th, 2011
10:51 pm
DROP DEAD
Repeat Offenders
July 19th, 2011
10:55 pm
Ncaa treats repeat offenders differently.
Repeat Offenders
July 19th, 2011
10:58 pm
One program acts professionally the other acts like a bunch arrogant fools, one is a repeat offender and gets 4 years probation.
VININGSDAWG
July 19th, 2011
10:59 pm
Bobby Hebert is a fool. What has Auburn done or been accused of? Mark Emmert has come out on three occasions and said that they have found no wrong doing in the Cam Newton case. The continuing investigation is about MSU.
LSU 3600 illegal phone calls by a misinterpretation of the rule. Yeah right, that is not misinterpreting, that’s cheating.
By the way, LSU and Bammer are on probation not Auburn, so it seems that LSU is the rotten apple here.
Bodda Getta
July 19th, 2011
11:02 pm
Mark,
Sorry, LSU also handled it poorly and got a year on probation.
If you want to know how to beat the NCAA, you lawyer up (Lightfoot, Franklin & White, anyone?), shut up, and win. Win a lot.
You make money for the NCAA and a everything is forgiven.
LSU 38 GA Tech 3
July 19th, 2011
11:03 pm
Great article Mark, the difference is LSU and its compliance staff actually took heed in the warnings coming down from the NCAA, whereas GA Tech continued to lie and cheat. Sounds like Tech’s D-Coordinator met illegally with the coach and planned the cover-up.
I applaud the LSU’s courage in the face of the NCAA and feel the punishment was just in both cases. Keep up the great work MB!
secfactcheck.com
July 19th, 2011
11:06 pm
“…The compliance staff … made an exemplary showing of how a university should react when mistakes are made.”
Operative words… “when mistakes are made”. Not even a close comparison. NCAA feels very vulnerable and exposed by letting their ego effect the TECH ruling. To hold up LSU as a shining example as to how GA Tech should run their operation is pathetic.
Coach Grohbo
July 19th, 2011
11:11 pm
Anyone want to guess who hired most of LSU’s compliance staff?
Dan Radakovich.
I put this one on PJ.
Bobby Hebert
July 19th, 2011
11:12 pm
For any of you fools lobbing stones at Mark Bradley. He’s certainly not alone in his opinion that LSU handled this the way it SHOULD be handled.
See this link: http://cfn.scout.com/2/1087673.html
LSU 38 GA Tech 3
July 19th, 2011
11:15 pm
Great link Bobby, Mark was right that LSU handled the NCAA exactly the way they should have been handled.
coloradobulldog
July 19th, 2011
11:15 pm
Let’s see I pointed out earlier how arrogant GT was and ‘Somewhere over the Dwayne Bowe’ proceeds to prove this point by continuing to claim he is smarter than all UGA people because he went to Tech. #ironic Of course you may not have learned about irony in those lame technical writing classes.
Brian
July 19th, 2011
11:19 pm
What do Tech fans and UGA fans have in common?
Neither went to UGA.
Goldrenrod
July 19th, 2011
11:22 pm
All you dog fans (yeah both of you) obviously have nothing better to do than pick on your brother here tonight. Go pick on someone your own size like UCF, last I recall you LOST to them in a bowl game beetches!
I have faith in Paul Johnson restoring order in the ATL this fall!
Sensei John Kreese
July 19th, 2011
11:24 pm
The comments related to Tech’s penalties are some of the funniest I have ever read on these boards. Please, keep ‘em coming. I know it stings, but the athletic department screwed up and got punished for it. Take it like a man.
Goldrenrod
July 19th, 2011
11:25 pm
All you dog fans (both of you) must not have ANYTHING better to do but to pick on your brother. Meanwhile you know that Coach Paul Johnson is the new sheriff in town and we cleaned your clocks back in 2008.
Get back in the Waffle House and make me some hash browns mutts!
Chad
July 19th, 2011
11:27 pm
I don’t know if this has been said yet or not, but objectively, has anyone considered that, from a monetary and/or BCS standpoint, it may be in the NCAA’s best interest to make a “good” example of an SEC school (with a “major” violation”), or possibly even a traditional football power, and lay the wood to a school (for a “minor” violation”) that isn’t as much of a revenue or ratings generator? Hate to say that, but part of me is a bit suspicious of the $$$ involved and the NCAA’s willingness to turn a blind eye, or “mess up” (e.g. USC) cases on the traditional football powers. Just an objective thought…do with it what you will.
PerimeterCenterJacket
July 19th, 2011
11:30 pm
I just LOVE how you LSU fans try to come on here and start talking trash and bring up the score of a meaningless bowl game. Nesbitt was playing injured and Miles got lucky with that onsides kick call or we would have won fair and square. To absolute he!l with L$U and UGaG!
BobaFeettJacket
July 19th, 2011
11:36 pm
Coach Paul Johnson gonna make 13 teams pay this season! #acc_champs
Memo to Georgia Tech: LSU shows how to handle the NCAA | Mark Bradley « Atlanta « Local News Feeds
July 19th, 2011
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