sagegrouse
12-29-2014, 08:44 AM
Barry Jacobs' front page article mentions a lowering of standards at Harvard and secondary recruiting violations, the "first NCAA sanctions in Harvard history." To wit:
Amaker was hired at Harvard in the spring of 2007. Within a year The New York Times published a story accusing him and assistant Kenny Blakeney, another Duke grad, of lowering the school's academic standards in their recruiting practices. Among the heinous charges was the program's pursuit of a prospect who otherwise considered lowly institutions such as Davidson and, yes, Virginia.
The most serious criticisms apparently had some basis in fact. The basketball program earned NCAA penalties for secondary violations, the first NCAA sanctions in Harvard history.
Neither charge is precisely true. Before Amaker was hired, Harvard decided to set the athletic academic admission standards at the Ivy League standard, which was a reduction from Harvard's previous minimums. The Harvards had the audacity of trying to win ... and succeeding! The nerve! Second, Harvard announced an "unintentional secondary violation" and self-imposed some unannounced recruiting limitations. These are minor matters affecting almost all programs but was announced by Harvard because two years earlier the Ivy League had said there was no violation at all. From a Harvard source:
The Ivy League and Harvard University announced today that Harvard has declared an unintentional secondary violation in connection with conversations in the summer of 2007 between current assistant men’s basketball coach Kenny Blakeney and members of the Harvard coaching staff that occurred before Blakeney was employed by Harvard.
“Secondary violations” are by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) definition “inadvertent” and deemed to provide at most a “minimal advantage” to the institution. They are also routine for all Division I members, including Ivy League institutions; the NCAA processes more than 2,000 secondary violations annually. While Harvard and the Ivy League do not ordinarily release information related to secondary violations, they are doing so in this case in view of prior publicity in 2008, when the league released a statement that its inquiry into these matters found no violations of Ivy League or NCAA rules.
This revised conclusion reflects conversations between Harvard and the NCAA subsequent to Harvard’s submission of the initial report to the Ivy League on this matter and its acceptance by the Ivy League Office. The NCAA staff agreed with the league’s and Harvard’s original conclusions that at the time of the conversations Blakeney had not been offered employment and did not have an employment agreement, and that any violation was “secondary.” However, under the NCAA’s interpretation of its rules, Blakeney’s conversations with the Harvard coaching staff during a time when he was independently observing prospective student — athletes required a finding of improper recruiting assistance to Harvard. After these discussions with the NCAA, Harvard elected to acknowledge a secondary violation and to self-impose recruiting limits for the 2010-11 academic year.
Yawn.
Amaker was hired at Harvard in the spring of 2007. Within a year The New York Times published a story accusing him and assistant Kenny Blakeney, another Duke grad, of lowering the school's academic standards in their recruiting practices. Among the heinous charges was the program's pursuit of a prospect who otherwise considered lowly institutions such as Davidson and, yes, Virginia.
The most serious criticisms apparently had some basis in fact. The basketball program earned NCAA penalties for secondary violations, the first NCAA sanctions in Harvard history.
Neither charge is precisely true. Before Amaker was hired, Harvard decided to set the athletic academic admission standards at the Ivy League standard, which was a reduction from Harvard's previous minimums. The Harvards had the audacity of trying to win ... and succeeding! The nerve! Second, Harvard announced an "unintentional secondary violation" and self-imposed some unannounced recruiting limitations. These are minor matters affecting almost all programs but was announced by Harvard because two years earlier the Ivy League had said there was no violation at all. From a Harvard source:
The Ivy League and Harvard University announced today that Harvard has declared an unintentional secondary violation in connection with conversations in the summer of 2007 between current assistant men’s basketball coach Kenny Blakeney and members of the Harvard coaching staff that occurred before Blakeney was employed by Harvard.
“Secondary violations” are by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) definition “inadvertent” and deemed to provide at most a “minimal advantage” to the institution. They are also routine for all Division I members, including Ivy League institutions; the NCAA processes more than 2,000 secondary violations annually. While Harvard and the Ivy League do not ordinarily release information related to secondary violations, they are doing so in this case in view of prior publicity in 2008, when the league released a statement that its inquiry into these matters found no violations of Ivy League or NCAA rules.
This revised conclusion reflects conversations between Harvard and the NCAA subsequent to Harvard’s submission of the initial report to the Ivy League on this matter and its acceptance by the Ivy League Office. The NCAA staff agreed with the league’s and Harvard’s original conclusions that at the time of the conversations Blakeney had not been offered employment and did not have an employment agreement, and that any violation was “secondary.” However, under the NCAA’s interpretation of its rules, Blakeney’s conversations with the Harvard coaching staff during a time when he was independently observing prospective student — athletes required a finding of improper recruiting assistance to Harvard. After these discussions with the NCAA, Harvard elected to acknowledge a secondary violation and to self-impose recruiting limits for the 2010-11 academic year.
Yawn.