Thursday, February 26, 1987/The Battalion/Page 9
Sports
J The SMU Scandal
'eeping boosters anonymous crucial
o in-house investigation, Kliever says
nAI I AS ( A I nif* - QT T’c ft D’ r;.J *■ U.
| DALLAS (AP) — Lonnie Kliever
predicted Southern Methodist
would take a public relations beating
Khen the guilty parties weren’t
amed in Wednesday’s NCAA re-
rrt abolishing SMU’s football pro-
am for 1987.
When the Mustangs were placed
m three years’ probation in August
|985, the names of nine boosters
lanned from the program were not
ade public.
Kliever, a religion professor who
s the university’s NCAA faculty
Ijepresentative headed an internal
■robe of recruiting violations, knew
■ would appear Wednesday that the
iulprits at SMU again went
gmscathed.
“We wanted to seek the highest
loral ground we could find,”
liever said last week in a back-
round session with reporters. “To
o that we wanted to investigate ev-
y facet of our program.
‘'We wanted to seek the
highest moral ground we
could find. To do that we
wanted to investigate ev
ery facet of our program. ”
— Lonnie Kliever
“There was no way we could do
that without people volunteering to
come forward to tell what they knew.
For this to happen, we had to prom
ise them anonymity. It was the only
way we could do it. The NCAA un
derstood.”
NCAA enforcement director Da
vid Berst agreed Wednesday that
SMU could not have effectively in
vestigated without promising some
of the guilty anonymity.
“It came down to ‘Do we accept
SMU’s report with that stipulation?’
And we decided yes, because they
went the extra mile,” Berst said.
Kliever said the NCAA was pre
sent for every interview the school
conducted.
“I didn’t want to be a conduit,”
Kliever said. “I didn’t want to hear
something in one ear and whisper it
into another. I wanted the NCAA to
be there when we heard about it for
the first time.”
The NCAA praised Kliever, say
ing he “went far beyond what could
be expected of a single faculty athlet
ics representative.”
It was important that everything
illegal about SMU athletics be
brought to the surface, Kliever said.
“We realized it would cause some
very, very difficult days for our foot
ball program,” he said. “But that’s
the way we had to do it. When we
heard improper things were going
on, we wanted the NCAA to be con
fident we would uncover what hap
pened and have it stopped.”
“As unhappy as we were about it,
we couldn’t have identified those re
sponsible and proceeded with an in-
depth investigation,” said SMU in
terim President William Stallcup.
Kliever said the school never con
sidered abandoning football, even
though SMU’s is the most penalized
program in NCAA history.
“We feel it has its place on campus
and we wanted to do football right,”
Kliever said. “With our special ad
missions, and starting over from
ground up, we believe we can con
trol the program.”
The furor over SMU’s football
program cost the school a president,
L. Donald Shields, who retired be
cause of his health, an athletic direc
tor, Bob Hitch, who resigned, and a
head football coach, Bobby Collins,
who also stepped down.
~^WC teams in search of substitutes for SMU
l( A&M schedules Louisiana Tech Oct. 31 in place of SMU
DALLAS (AP) — The one-year
J suspension of football at Southern
Methodist Wednesday left other
Southwest Conference teams scram
bling to fill vacancies on their 1987
tiail schedules,
oil I The Mustangs are limited to just
ftSven SWC games, all on the road, in
T^88. There are nine SWC teams.
NCAA enforcement director Da-
ivid Berst said it will be up to the con
ference and SMU to work out the
heduling problems.
Texas A&M officials said the Ag-
les will be playing Louisiana Tech
at Kyle Field this fall instead of the
Mustangs.
I “Obviously, there had been a little
■s who:
teslifc
ircin;:
an sat
d
pre-planning,” A&M Sports Infor
mation Director Tom Turbiville
said.
Arkansas Athletic Director Frank
Broyles said the Razorbacks had
made plans to play the University of
New Mexico if SMU’s season was
canceled.
Baylor Athletic Director Bill Me-
nefee said he has talked to a number
of schools with several rescheduling
opportunities.”
Houston Athletic Director Rudy
Davalos said, “Our initial responsibi
lity will be to find a home game to re
place the one we will lose by not
playing SMU. We will find a home
game.
“I think that it will be extremely
difficult for them to be competitive
again until the early 1990s,” he
added.
Texas Christian Athletic Director
Frank Windegger said his school’s
priority was to find a home game for
Sept. 26. “I will be pursuing what
ever avenues are open toward that
end.”
Texas Tech spokesman Joe Hor-
naday, said, “We’re kind of lucky in
a sense. We’re not locked into only
one date.”
He said in addition to the Nov. 14
date with SMU, the Red Raiders also
had a Sept. 19 opening on their
schedule, making their options more
flexible.
Texas Athletic Director DeLoss
Dodds said he doesn’t know who the
Longhorns will be playing instead of
SMU.
Outside the conference, SMU had
been scheduled to play Oklahoma
and New Mexico in 1987 and Okla
homa and Notre Dame in 1988.
»
Notre Dame officials, anticipating
the possibility of strong penalties
against SMU, had made some pre
liminary contacts with other schools
as a possible schedule replacement.
Broyles says SMU should
play all SWC teams in '88
DALLAS (AP) — Arkansas
Athletic Director Frank Broyles
said Wednesday he plans to ask
Southwest Conference officials to
appeal to the NCAA to allow
SMU to play all eight SWC
schools in 1988 to ensure equity
in conference competition.
The NCAA canceled SMU’s
1987 season and limited it to only
seven SWC games in 1988 be
cause of recruiting violations.
NCAA enforcement director Da
vid Berst said it is up to the con
ference and the nine SWC
schools to work out the schedul
ing problems.
“We plan to ask the Southwest
Conference office to appeal to
the NCAA to allow SMU to play
eight games in 1988, rather than
seven, to ensure a balance and
equity of percentages in the
Southwest Conference
championship race and ensuing
Cotton Bowl bid,” Broyles said.
An SWC spokeswoman in Dal
las, who would not give her name,
said the representatives of all
nine SWC schools would have to
vote to appeal.
Broyles said he thought the
sanctions against the school were
“unduly harsh.”
He and other SWC athletic of
ficials expressed sympathy for
Southern Methodist, but said
their immediate concern is filling
the holes left in their schedules by
the latest NCAA sanctions.
In a prepared statement,
Jackie Sherill, athletic director
and head football coach at Texas
A&M, said, “It’s obviously a se
vere blow to SMU. However, I
feel that SMU will play the cards
that have been dealt to them and
will return their program to a
competitive status.”
Sherrill refused to comment
directly on the Mustangs’ punish
ment.
“It’s very difficult in a third-
party situation to make comments
without full knowledge of what
went on in the discussion with
SMU and NCAA officials,” he
said.
“Obviously we’re all scrambling
to find an 11th game,” said Texas
Christian coach Jim Wacker. “But
at this point you hate to lose a
member, especially a strong one
as SMU has been.”
Houston Coach Jack Pardee
said the harshness of the penalty
could help clean up collegiate
sports.
“People say the distasteful
thing about college football is re
cruiting,” Pardee said. “Well, I
like recruiting. The only distaste
ful thing about it is not playing by
the same rules. If you are trying
to run an honest program, you
don’t want to be recruiting
against someone who is cheat
ing.”
The Mustangs were found
guilty of making monthly cash
payments to student athletes
from funds provided by a school
booster. The program could have
been shut down lor two years un
der the so-called “death penalty”
provision.
“We at the University of Texas
were for stiffer penalties to help
stop violations of NCAA rules,”
said Athletic Director DeLoss
Dodds said. “At the same time, I
feel a little bit saddened. I have a
great concern for SMU and their
program and for the Southwest
Conference.”
Baylor Athletic Director Bill
Menefee said the penalties were
“not entirely unexpected.”
“We regret that one of our sis
ter institutions has received such
a penalty because it affects all of
us,” Menefee said.
Catch The Spring
Break Fashions at
■A Flying Tomato Tonight 9 p.m
16
Post Oak Mall
764-9009
Mon-Sat 10:00-9:00
Sun 12:30-5:30
HEALTH CARE OPPORTUNITIES
FOR SPRING GRADUATES —
ALL MAJORS
Beverly Enterprizes, the nation’s largest long term health care cor
poration will be interviewing spring graduates to participate in our
Nursing Home Adminstration-ln-Training Program.
The Company:
Beverly Enterprises operates nearly 1100 health care facilities
across the country and employs nearly 110,000 people. Beverly En
terprises is a rapidly growing progressive corporation concerned
with providing the highest caliber of care to the nation’s elderly pop
ulation.
The Position:
After successfully completing a comprehensive training program,
you will be given the opportunity to manage your own long term care
facility. Training as well as placement will be in the state of Texas.
The Qualifications:
A minimum of a Bachelors Degree is required with all majors being
considered for training. Previous work experience in a health care
setting is also required. Course work in one or more of the following
areas would be helpful:
Health Care Adminstration, Gerentoloty and Management
The Rewards:
The successful candidate will recieve compensation, an excellent
fringe benefit package and opportunities for career growth. In addi
tion, you will make a personal contribution to the geriatric commu
nity.
Interviews:
For immediate consideration, sign up for an interview at the Place
ment Center Office. Interviews will be conducted on campus on
March 12th.