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
GT
July 20th, 2011
9:23 am
Jonah points out the problem, unknowingly. Now Tech is a rogue school not to be outdone by Georgia or LSU in recruiting. Is that really the situation here. We had a losing season last year. In every article about Tech there is no declaration of a program that has any future at all. We are very cautious in our judgement of Tech and the jury is still out, yet now Jonah has decided on his own “Tech is a successful program”. Tech is a successful program but not in the ways that Jonah or Mark measure a program. They have handicapped themselves many times in order to uphold the higher calling of academics. It is a fact that many in the paper and town and state have use against Tech for years in recruiting. We are called nerds, not to flatter, but to explain why we cannot compete. Now in this hour of confusion we are the problem instead of the answer. Really?
Tech Man
July 20th, 2011
9:27 am
Stand up for what you believe…period. Ma Tech does not honor every answer. Consistent with the ideals of GT, Tech should defend it’s position…aggressively.
Comments here seem to suggest that the NCAA acts consistently and forthrightly in all cases, with all people, in all exchanges. Yet, the NCAA is a ghost – made up of fragile egos who rotate responsibilities, have other primary career paths, and bring unique biases as a result of the dealings their institutions have had with the NCAA.
Finally, Tech took the right leadership course here. If DRad were to not advise the man responsible for the “brave and the bold,” he would lose his leadership credibility in the eyes of his direct reports – head coaches who choose to deal honestly with young men and women. His leadership credibility is his greatest asset today and going forward. He chose the right path in telling his head coach. He should have informed the NCAA he would do so.
Don
July 20th, 2011
9:27 am
@TechBury: Donnan is an ACC product. He went to N.C. State and was their starting QB. Sort of figures, huh?
Justafan
July 20th, 2011
9:32 am
Mark playing Monday morning QB…how sad you are!
Hey Mark Bradley
July 20th, 2011
9:33 am
Something about beating a dead horse with a broken record maybe? Find something new to write about. It that’s possible.
rduck
July 20th, 2011
9:34 am
Jonah… WTH? Did you read any of the material relating to the sanctions or how the investigation unfolded? They were investigating for 20 months. If there was more to it than $312, surely they would have found it in that long period of time. The investigator interviewed several players, coaches and administrators during this time. They found bumpkus. The only thing they could find was speculation as to whether or not Thomas received clothing from a friend of an agent. WTH are you talking about?
GT
July 20th, 2011
9:36 am
Well said Tech Man. The unmistakeable handwriting of a well educated individual.
JB
July 20th, 2011
9:38 am
Most hits I’ve seen on Any TECH topic…normally a story about Tech gets 40-50 hits………But I guess most are Dawg fans. This does put Tech up there with all the bad boys of football cheating. Auburn, Bama,Ohio St……Top 5 at least.
JB
July 20th, 2011
9:40 am
Not to mention your beloved dogs. Year in and year out, the pups seem to find trouble. I believe they have the distinct honor of having the most run ins with the law the last few years. So why don’t you go back to your fire hydrant and let uga take a leak on you.
Have a great day!
Dory
July 20th, 2011
9:42 am
Tech is shameless
PTC DAWG
July 20th, 2011
9:42 am
GT has knowingly played ineligible players before, and not given one chit about it. What makes this latest debacle news?
I will say it again ...........
July 20th, 2011
9:44 am
All 3 have 2 common traits ………… driven by denial and insecurity.
GT sports,
MARTA
Atlanta public schools
Liars, cheats and thugs and no one wants to pay for their product.
Otter
July 20th, 2011
9:45 am
The NCAA are like a group of spoiled children who throw a tantrum if schools do not bend over backwards for them. They care as much about their own egocentric sense of importance as they do about keeping the game honest. I am no Tech fan, but this just illustrates how absurd these people are. There is no accountability or consistency. They are as corrupt as the forces that they so self righteously claim to combat. Because LSU knows how to play the political game, they get off easy… absurd.
MikeP
July 20th, 2011
9:46 am
Quoting DAWG:
“NCAA has lost its edge in the enforcement branch, just look at Auburn. They can parade around and get away with murder. Who in the NCAA is getting paid big bucks to have a blind eye?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Auburn runs a clean program and got away with…nothing. That Tech player got $312 more than Cam Newton or anyone in his family got. Learn to live with it.
If by that last comment you mean Auburn has the NCAA in their pocket, then the rest of college football is in a LOT of trouble. LMAO!
Paul in RDU
July 20th, 2011
10:14 am
Wow – I agree with a post of WnE
Joe
July 20th, 2011
10:22 am
Go Tech
T3
July 20th, 2011
10:25 am
Well Bradley:
You have certianly made it CLEAR to everyone your bias aginst GT
with this BLATANT in-your-face article. NOt to mention the past few articles
youve posted on this topic.
I guess the rumor I keep hearing abot the GTAA “limiting”
your access to the Edge must be true.
So much for your “journalistic integrity.”
NCAA Infractions decision on LSU - Page 3
July 20th, 2011
10:29 am
[...] At the time, I thought GT had gotten the better AD, but I have revised my opinion. Memo to Georgia Tech: LSU shows how to handle the NCAA | Mark Bradley Reply With Quote + Reply to [...]
Bill
July 20th, 2011
10:39 am
Typical AJC advice. Get on your knees and kiss the NCAA’s ass. Glad Paul Johnson spoke out to the Mafia.
Georgia Whine
July 20th, 2011
10:40 am
Let us think about this for a minute:
1. An EMPLOYEE of LSU definitively commits a MAJOR recruiting violation in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage for LSU (ie. cheating) and the NCAA pats LSU on the back.
2. A third party may or may not have been involved in a SECONDARY violation that would have led to no competitive advantage and with which no Georgia Tech employee was involved and the NCAA drops the hammer with penalties multiple times more severe than the LSU case.
So, the NCAA is saying that their PERCEPTION of cooperation in an investigation is more important that than the REALITY of whether rules are actually violated by a member institution.
The lesson here for Mark Bradley, Tech, and all college football fans is that the NCAA and their rulings should not be taken seriously.
GT
July 20th, 2011
10:48 am
Let Bradley in. The last excuse Tech needs for this foolishness is a reporter thinking we scared of him. I think part of the problem is there has not been enough people from the press around Tech. In fact there should be more press around every college campus and not the kind that take their copy from the athletic department’s PR people.
buzzfart
July 20th, 2011
10:49 am
what a bunch of crybabies–take the punishment and sit down–remember aj last year
gdawginkalamazoo
July 20th, 2011
11:08 am
All of this has absolutely no affect on Tech this year or any following year. Zero, none.
Somewhere over the Dwayne Bowe
July 20th, 2011
11:10 am
Yeah, we remember AJ last year, buzzfarts. We remember UGA sat him that HUGE game vesus LA-La. The NCAA suspended him prior to the USCe game. But let’s not let facts get in the way.
Must suck to have buzzfarts. I’d consult my physician if I were you.
Rodney Dangerfield
July 20th, 2011
11:21 am
LSU laid down and took one from the NCAA hoping the NCAA would just take it and go away, not stay and uncover things LSU has done. Real cheating schools are good at this.
A whiff of the NCAA is coming and bam, we did it, we impose our own sanctions, NCAA says “good boy” and leaves. Then cheater schools pops out the cigars and champagne and toasts to “we dodged another bullet boys”!
T3
July 20th, 2011
11:28 am
OK, here’s a refresher course put all this in PROPER perspective.
Here’s what ESPN wrote on Friday, December 3, 2010, the day before the SEC Championship:
“Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is eligible to play in the SEC title game this weekend,
though the NCAA says his father broke rules by shopping his son to another school.”
“The NCAA released its finding in a statement on Wednesday, December 1, 2010. The college sports governing body had concluded on Monday, November 29, 2010 that a violation of Newton’s amateur status had occurred. Auburn declared Newton ineligible on Tuesday and requested his eligibility be reinstated.”
“As of today (Friday-Dec 1st) Newton has been cleared by the NCAA to compete without conditions.”
“Based on the information available to the reinstatement staff at this time, we do not have sufficient evidence that Cam Newton or anyone from Auburn was aware of this activity, which led to his reinstatement,” said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for academic and membership affairs.
“From a student-athlete reinstatement perspective, Auburn University met its obligation.
Under this threshold, the student-athlete has not participated while ineligible.”
OK. Here it is:
NCAA made it CLEAR they had SUBSTANTIAL, CONFIRMED AND DOCUMENTED PROOF that a
MAJOR violation had occurred involving an estimated $180,000 in a BLATANT pay-for-play set-up.
The NCAA was ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that Cam Newton had violated his Amateur status
and was no longer an eligible NCAA player. Auburn then declared Newton ineligible.
And yet…IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS…the NCAA CLEARED Can Newton to play in the SEC Championship Game and a likely future BCS Bowl game.
So now the NCAA has seen fit to slap probation on GT, for a “supposed offense”
without ANY DOCUMENTED PROOF and much highly circumstantial evidence.
So, here is the dubious standard that the NCAA has established
and that Mark Bradley seems to so arrogantly support:
1. Commit a DOCUMENTED MAJOR offense and APPEAR “cooperative”
Result: PROBLEM CLEARED.
2. Supposedly commit an UNPROVEN, MINOR offense and APPEAR “uncooperative”
Result: PROBATION, VACATED TITLE, $100,000 FINE.
And yet, the AJC has seen fit to rip GT without ANY supposedly OBJECTIVE
review of these RECENT AND BLATANTLY INCONSISTENT actions by the NCAA.
UN-F******-BELIEVABLE.
gt4ever
July 20th, 2011
11:32 am
What a JOKE of an article! Did somebody OK this trash! I mean, are you SERIOUS!
ToccoaDawg
July 20th, 2011
11:36 am
for once I can agree with MB
georgiavol
July 20th, 2011
11:40 am
Mark, you are an absolute moron. Why do you have a job with the AJC? Oh, wait, it is, after all, the AJC. They stink, too.
Drexel Gal
July 20th, 2011
11:41 am
Even a felled tree contains a LOT of moisture.
gcs
July 20th, 2011
11:45 am
Do you mean being a little baby about it and whining is not a good approach?
.
PMC
July 20th, 2011
11:47 am
This may just be the tip of the Iceberg for LSU. They have some other stuff coming, so it was wise to handle this well.
atlTIGER
July 20th, 2011
11:53 am
PMC: LSU has nothing else coming. Trust me. Except maybe another National Title.
really
July 20th, 2011
11:56 am
we live in a country run by the “rule of law” not if you like someone’s personality(hugo chavas). the ncaa should be totally embarrassed; basically you dont hire an attorney you hire a connected PR former ncaa employee and they work(bribe) for you
adam
July 20th, 2011
11:59 am
@bigtimetechfan DRad was specifically told by the investigator on campus from the NCAA NOT to discuss the matter with anyone else
T3
July 20th, 2011
12:00 pm
@atlTiger:
FWIW, Chuck Oliver has been saying for 3 days
that LSU “has an $80,000 problem” with Patrick Peterson.
gdawginkalamazoo
July 20th, 2011
12:01 pm
I feel better about the Cam re-hash on here. The NCAA has set a precedent for Jarvis Jone and Caldwell-Pope. Jones didn’t know who paid for his airfare and Pope didn’t know who paid for his mother’s cell phone so they should be good to play this season. So at most these kids should be declared ineligible for 24 hours then re-instated.
GT
July 20th, 2011
12:12 pm
What kills me is half these schools cheat their shorts off and don’t win. Most of these guys they have to cheat with never make it to the field. I think that linebacker the put SMU on the death sentence never had much playing time. I think character really does play a part in a player’s career. I think of Marcus Dupre. You get a stable full of these characters and you may have bitten off more trouble than you want. Your locker room is diseased or in some cases where they were winning you campus becomes unsafe. Tech’s basketball program cames closer to this than its football program, but neither one was nuclear like some places.
Ben
July 20th, 2011
12:15 pm
The difference is that LSU actually cheated, whereas Tech did not. That’s the only difference that should matter.
BG
July 20th, 2011
12:22 pm
Cheating finally caught up with Tech.
Ben
July 20th, 2011
12:25 pm
BG: The NCAA was unable to find any evidence of Tech cheating, please explain yourself….
gt4ever
July 20th, 2011
12:25 pm
I really can’t believe some of the comments…. This article does one thing….. It PROVES that the NCAA is nothing more than a corrupt organization… Period!
Eddie
July 20th, 2011
12:35 pm
Ben,
The difference is that LSU makes a lot of money for the NCAA, whereas Tech does not. That’s the only difference that matters to the NCAA.
mom to 3
July 20th, 2011
12:36 pm
why is it that tech and its fans, coaches, ad and players can’t just shut up and go away? do they really think that the ncaa cares about them? they are a secondary athletic association who lied and thought they would get away. now deal with the consequences and take it like a big boy. instead you think that whining and complaining will somehow make it better. as i tell my children, it is over, move on! you did the deed, now deal with it and quit whining!
Eddie
July 20th, 2011
12:43 pm
@gdawginkalamazoo,
If this were to be decided in the US legal system, NCAA set a Cam Newton precedent for Jarvis Jones and Caldwell-Pope.
But this will be decided in the NCAA system. Neither UGA’s football program nor their basketball program are expected to have elite seasons. Therefore, the NCAA does not stand to make a lot of money off their TV games.
Expect at least a four-game NCAA suspension for both players plus whatever the SEC tacks on.
gt4ever
July 20th, 2011
12:45 pm
And then there was mom to 3….. Secondary athletic Association,,, very funny… I have NO idea who the NCAA cares about, and nobody else does either, based on their flawed logic…. We would deal with the consequences, if in fact we did something WRONG. I guess you are a mom who deals out unfair punnishment to her kids, no matter what the truth may bring… Good grief, I guess the only explanation is that you are another DELUSIONAL bulldawg fan, whe doesn’t have a CLUE!
Eddie
July 20th, 2011
12:46 pm
Mom,
Very good point. The same should be said of UGA.
YellowJacket
July 20th, 2011
12:47 pm
The AJC is a fish wrapper. Gutless.
BRW
July 20th, 2011
12:51 pm
ToccoaDawg, No one cares who you agree with. Stop embarassing yourself by trying to look like you matter….
Doofus
July 20th, 2011
12:54 pm
What it boils down to is that the North Avenue Trade School has always thought they were better than everyone else. Add to that a coach that thinks he is above the law. Then when caught with their hand in the cookie jar they reply, “what cookie jar?” The result is what everyone knew all along, Tech sucks at everything…..even cheating!